Noah Maxwell Takes A Little Trip To Beacon
by Penthepoet
Summary: (A crack fic taken completely seriously.) The four masters of Beacon Academy decide to summon four heroes. They get much, much more than what they bargained for. (or, How I Learned To Stop Whining And Love The Slenderverse Protagonists) (Tribetwelve, EverymanHYBRID, Marble Hornets, CaughtNotSleeping, and RWBY crossover.)
1. Noah Maxwell Gets Taken To Remnant

"War is at hand. You feel it as well, I suspect," Ozpin declared.

Ironwood stared back at him. "You wouldn't dare." Ironwood warned.

Ozpin met this silent challenge with fury in his eyes. "I would." he said.

"We shall summon four heroes, from beyond the lands of Remnant. Perhaps they will aid us in our time of need." he finished.

Noah Maxwell's eyes flickered open. It was a beautiful day. In the way cliched fantasy novels put it, the birds were singing and the sun was shining. The forest floor was cool to the touch.. Wait a minute. Something was wrong with this picture.

Last he checked, Noah did not remember going to sleep in a forest.

He sat up.

"Are you fucking kidding me? The Collective's fucking with my head again, aren't they?" he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, he heard a distinctly inhuman growl from the shade of the woods. Noah took a rock into his hands, ready to sling it and run. What jumped out was something oddly bear-like, with a white and red mask upon its ursine muzzle.

It glared at Noah, its red eyes menacing and accusatory. And then it roared in his face.

Noah threw that rock with unholy precision and ran as if the Slenderman itself was after him. Most people in Remnant generally agreed that a person lacking experience in Aura could not outrun a Grimm.

Especially an Ursa Major Grimm.

Eventually, Noah tripped. The situation was not looking bright for him. This Ursa loomed above Noah, ready to maim him or worse.

At that moment, the part of him that would eventually take him over and turn him into Firebrand acted on impulse.

A fireball, red and hot, launched itself into the stomach of the Grimm. From Noah's hand. The Grimm, unprepared for this sudden attack, stumbled before letting out a dying roar and falling to the ground.

Noah looked down at his hand, which was now completely black, but slowly turning back to its normal color. "H.. holy shit.. I just shot a fireball.. out of my hand?" Noah breathed in amazement and fear.

He saw a red-headed girl coming towards him with a javelin in her hands. She looked like a Greek goddess of war.

"Where am I?" Noah demanded of her. The girl looked confused.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, a grin on her face. "Where the fuck am I?" he asked, more stern this time. Again, the girl's look of confusion grew even more evident.

"... You're in Vale. In the deepest part of these woods, where Grimm roam." she answered. She turned around and observed the Ursa corpse lying beside Noah. "It looks like you don't need any help here. You've already killed one Grimm, I see. Without weapons." she added, before walking away.

"No! Wait!" Noah called out. The girl turned and looked at Noah. "Do you know a place where I can stay? I really don't want to have to stay in these woods with these huge fucking monsters for the night." he asked. She nodded. "I'll take you there. My name's Pyrrha, by the way. Pyrrha Nikos." she finished, extending a hand to help him up.

There was a pause. He took her hand. "Noah Maxwell." he introduced.


	2. The Summoning of Our Protagonists

_One night earlier.._

The Four Headmasters of Beacon had gathered to summon the heroes from another realm. They stood around an ancient summoning circle.

"Remember to please do be careful with what you say for your hero's attributes. When summoning, the Dust takes everything you say literally. Each of us will train one of these heroes. Keep this in mind." Ozpin warned. Then he began to chant in a language long dead, and the summoning circle set alight with Dust.

Ozpin was the first to step forward. "I ask for a hero that is adept at leadership, and quick with his wits. A hero who has great potential overall." he intoned, his baritone lending weight to his words.

Ironwood was the next to step forward. "I ask for a hero who is in all ways the perfect soldier, who knows the weight of taking a life. A hero defined by his inner strength." he informed.

Qrow went after him. "I ask for a hero who is stubborn and defiant, who has fire and determination. A hero that's a firebrand." he asked.

Last to walk forward was Glynda. "I ask for a hero who is adept with the blade, who has unimaginable power locked away inside him. A hero who's loyalty knows no bounds." she finished.

Ozpin finished with a chant. Dust was swirling out of the circle. And as the summoning finished, they all wondered.. who were their heroes going to be?

Evan stood up from his 'bed' in the leaves. Why the fuck was he in the woods? He didn't remember being here. Why was he here.. oh. He remembered now. HABIT. It was probably his fault. _There's gotta be a town near here somewhere,_ he thought.

There was a rustling noise somewhere near him. His eyes lit up. Either it was a person or it was some weird furry animal. He drew his emergency knife from its sheath.

What looked like a boar to Evan came barreling towards him. He truly didn't give a shit that it was black and clearly not a normal boar. Motherfuck, he was excited that he at least had something to vent his anger on.

The boar was almost there and Evan was _ready._ Almost by instinct, his arm leapt towards the nearest target and the knife lodged itself in the not-boar's side. It was fighting him every step of the goddamn way. But his knife kept on stabbing, over and over and over, and when Evan looked down that not-boar was not moving anymore.

Evan pulled his emergency knife out and rejoiced. He had won! He had triumphed over this.. this thing!

After approximately a minute of whooping, hollering, and jumping around, Evan went eastward.

It took a little while before he walked onto the grounds of what looked like a massive castle. His jaw dropped. As he would learn later on, he was standing on the campus of Beacon Academy, where his destiny awaited.


	3. Noah Maxwell Gets Some Answers

As Noah stood in front of Beacon, he was amazed at what sort of place this was. According to Pyrrha, the person who had found him, this was a place where people were trained to fight off the creatures from the woods - Grimm, as Pyrrha had called them.

"Holy shit, this place is massive!" Noah remarked to Pyrrha as they walked through Beacon's hallowed halls. Pyrrha turned to him and smiled. "Do they not have Huntress academies where you come from?" she replied.

Noah nodded in amazement as Pyrrha began to explain to him the intricacies of fighting Grimm. Apparently they had what basically amounted to _magic_ at their fingertips.

Eventually they stopped in front of an office - the Headmaster's office, as Pyrrha put it. Noah had images in his head of a wizened old man with a long beard and pointy hat. The door swung open and Noah was comfortably proven wrong.

Standing before him was a relatively young-looking man with white hair and green spectacles.

"I see Pyrrha has brought a visitor." he said with a smile. "Pyrrha, could you please close the door behind you? I wish to have a talk with this friend of yours." he added, his voice calm and deep. Pyrrha left, giving Noah one last look before she went.

The door closed and Noah was left alone with this.. this Headmaster.

The Headmaster's smile remained, still. "Well. I think it would be wise of you to sit down, Mr. Maxwell. I will attempt to explain your situation." he declared, his voice still calm.

Noah was shocked yet again. "How the fuck do you know my name?" he questioned.

Again that serene, zen smile grew upon his face. "Because I was one of the ones that summoned you here, Noah Maxwell. You and a few others in your same plight." was the answer from the Headmaster. Noah was in thought for a minute.

"What's your name and how much do you know about me?" Noah queried.

The smile was still there. "I am Headmaster Ozpin. Due to the fact that I led the ritual, I knew that the four who summoned you and the others - me included - would dream about the heroes we one day would teach. Your future teacher told me quite a bit about you, Noah."

"Fine. Humor me. What did he learn about me?"

Ozpin took a deep breath in.

"You and the others are all linked through a faceless, tall entity that stalked you all. You in particular were singled out by this creature due to your potential - it wanted you to join its shadowy group of followers, the Collective. You fought against it long and hard. I can comfortably say that if we had let you stay there in your realm, you would have become the Stubborn much sooner than intended, due to the manipulations of the Observer." Ozpin explained.

Noah's eyes widened.

"So you chose me and a few others to.. what, save the fuckin' world?" Noah asked.

Ozpin shook his head. "We already have a team for that. But you, and the others we summoned… we intend for you to guard this school against the eldritch beings of this realm. You have great potential, Noah. Your Semblance is not an ordinary one - it's not everyday we get a person that can manipulate elements from within." Ozpin finished.

"You are something we have not seen in quite a long time." were Ozpin's final words.

Tim's eyes opened. Woods. How familiar. This was a dream, wasn't it? Another dream to torment him. He knew how these dreams went. Jay or Alex would appear, any minute now.

He stood up and began to walk. But behind him he heard something. A howl. He turned around and behind him was a masked wolf. There was a scar, gouged deep into its mask. The red glow of its eyes was.. calming. Understanding. Something about this wolf reminded him of Alex. Tim held out a hand, towards it.

The wolf stood there, as if waiting. The wolf put its head into Tim's hand. Then Tim heard something - a voice, in his head. _Masked One. I thank you for easing my sorrows. What may I do to assist you in your time of need?_

Tim somehow knew it was the wolf. "Where is the nearest city?" were the words that came from his mouth.

The wolf nodded and turned eastward. _A half sun's step from there. I must warn you - the hunters make their domain there, and you know as well as I how they harm fellow Masks such as ourselves. Be careful, my friend._ the wolf reassured.

Tim turned to walk that way, but then turned back to the wolf. "Thank you." he said.

The wolf seemed to smile. Then the masked wolf ran, ran, ran westward into the black of the woods.

Tim decided to follow the advice of the wolf and began a journey eastward, to Beacon.

He was still slightly unnerved at how the wolf referred to him as 'Masked One.'

Unbeknownst to him, another person from his realm had come with him, and was following him to Beacon.

Time could only tell who the person ended up being.


	4. Our Final Hero Comes At Last

Noah was sitting in the empty dorm that was assigned to him. Apparently, he was supposed to wait here for the other three 'heroes' to come.

He'd already exhausted his options of screaming obscenities at the wall, just screaming, and generally pondering if this was a dream.

Because if it was, whoever was making it had a sick sense of humor. Of all the magical 'Semblances' he could have received, it had to be the one that partially turned him into the scary god demon he was fated to become.

He sat on his bed in general silence. Then the door slammed open and Noah was suddenly out of his bed, fists at the ready.

"Noah?" was the ever so familiar voice that crept into his ear. Noah looked, really looked, and saw Evan standing in front of him. The real Evan that he had met on his trip, not that fucking creepy HABIT.

"Why are you here? The weird Ozpin-headmaster-guy said that coming into this room would explain everything. So far, I'm even more confused," Evan stated.

Noah gave him an understanding look. "I get that. This place is still weird-as-shit even to me, and I've been here a day. I also _really_ don't trust that Ozpin guy. He knows a **lot** more about us than he should." Noah reassured.

"What'd you mean?" Evan asked.

"I mean that he knew about my whole situation with Daddy Longlegs and his demonic book club. He also said that apparently he knows a lot about the rest of us, as well. Including you." Noah replied. Evan's eyes widened.

"For now, we have to stay here, play their shitty game. At least it'll be better than what we had to deal with back home. I mean, shit, we've got magic powers! Perhaps maybe once we know how this place works, we can make a break for it with the others!" Noah promised.

Something else - hope - shone in Evan's eyes. "We've got magic powers?" he said in awe.

Caught woke up. Goddamnit, he was in a forest. Either he got very drunk and fell asleep in the woods or this was the Slenderman's fault. He was more inclined towards the latter.

He stumbled through the woods and came to a clearing, wherein he saw a girl with bunny ears fighting a giant masked snake.

Yep. He was on drugs. Only solution. This bunny girl was soundly kicking this snake's ass with what looked like a fuckin' bazooka. Jesus, this was like something out of a shitty anime.

Suddenly, the snake lunged at him and he knew, he knew this was the end. He closed his eyes, braced for it… but it never came.

He opened his eyes and there was what appeared to be a force-field coming from his hands, encasing him in a bubble of sweet, sweet protection. He flipped the giant snake off with his force-field projecting hands.

But a gunshot sounded out and the giant snake fell right in front of him. "FUCK." he yelled, perhaps a bit too loudly.

"I wasn't even **involved** in what just happened there." he remarked. The bunny girl strided up to him.

"Hello? What are you doing out here in these woods?" she asked.

Caught was struck by impulse. The words that came spilling out of his mouth were ones he absolutely did not recognize. He had no idea what he was saying.

What came out of his mouth were the words "Take me to Ozpin, please."

The bunny girl grew confused. "Take you to Ozpin? Why?" she asked.

Again, the words that flowed out of his mouth were not his own.

"The Headmaster! The Headmaster of that one academy where you guys train to fight monsters like that! Take me to him, _please_!" he damn near shouted.

The bunny girl covered her ears. After a bit, she relented. "Very well.. I'll take you to Beacon."

Again, time could only tell what happened to Caught.


	5. The Dream Team Meets Each Other

Noah and Evan sat in their room. They'd been sitting there for a day, doing various things that boredom threw into their heads, like Never Have I Ever and a non-alcoholic version of a drinking game.

Then two other people walked into the room. One looked as if he hadn't slept in a month and the other, who wore a beige jacket, looked as if he had seen far too much.

There was no conversation, at first. It was just them staring at each other, trying to gauge what the other's personality was like. Eventually, the insomniac spoke.

"Looks like we need an introduction. According to the Headmaster, **you guys** have also dealt with the same shit involving Mr. Tall, Pale, and Faceless. Also, apparently we're a team now and there's no takebacks, according to The Great and Powerful Ozpin." the Insomniac stated.

He sat down.

"I'll start it off; call me Caught. It's pretty much the only name I know at this point, because the Slenderman basically erased a lot of my memories. I've been dealing with it for god knows how long." the Insomniac introduced.

The man in the beige jacket sat down, as well.

He took a breath to introduce himself. Evan chimed in before he could speak. "We know who you are. Practically everyone here has seen Marble Hornets. You're Tim. Sorry about Jay, man. That sucks." Evan offered. Tim nodded.

Noah's expression shifted to one of guilt.

"I thought Marble Hornets wasn't real. Fuck, I'm sorry." he uttered.

"It's ok. I'd be the same way." Tim accepted.

"I'm Noah Maxwell. I've not only had to deal with the Slenderman, I've also had to deal with his cult of scary god-demons called the Collective for 6 fuckin' years. And I'm absolutely goddamn sick of it." Noah announced.

Evan shrugged. "Best for last. I'm Evan. I mean, yeah, I've had to deal with Slenderman, but I've also been possessed by a murder demon called HABIT. It wasn't pretty." he proclaimed.

Everyone's eyes were wide. Saying you've been possessed by a demon tends to be one of those phrases that ends a conversation.

"I need a fuckin' drink." Noah informed.

That night, Tim had nightmares. Not the normal ones he used to have, no, these were vivid beastly things that made him wake up screaming.

Instantly, as if by teleportation, Noah sat on Tim's bed. "Let me guess. Nightmares?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Tim could do nothing but nod.

"So you have terrifying murder dreams too. Good to know. Let's talk about it, I find that helps me sometimes." Noah replied, his voice sympathetic.

So Tim and Noah talked, late into the night, about their nightmares and their lives before Slenderman.

The next day, Ozpin summoned them all to his office.


	6. And The Team Name Is

Caught, Tim, Noah, and Evan stood in Ozpin's office. They had already been introduced to Ozpin's compatriots.

Ozpin looked over the boys, his expression unclear.

"Alas, you missed the first day of the school year, so we cannot pick the team leader in the usual way. In rare occasions such as this, special rules are allowed." Ozpin explained. His green spectacles shone in the daylight, making him look more than a little intimidating.

Glynda stepped forward. "We will send you into the woods, as you are now. You must track down an Ursa Major and defeat it. If I recall correctly, Noah knows what you're looking for." Glynda added.

"Good luck." the two said in unison.

It was Qrow that escorted them into the woods.

"After we find out who the leader is, we will pick which of you we will teach." Qrow told them. "Ozpin said you guys already know, apparently. Why are you lying to us?" Noah replied. Qrow turned to face Noah and pointed at him.

"I _like_ you." was Qrow's answer.

They now stood at the edge of the woods. "You guys are up. Good luck." Qrow finished before he left.

Once they were alone, Noah began swearing profusely. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? WE DON'T EVEN HAVE ANY WEAPONS!" he yelled.

Evan just smiled as he began pulling out knives from increasingly improbable places on his person, including a wickedly sharp bowie knife from his shoe. "How the hell did you do that?" Caught asked. Again, Evan just smiled.

"Where the fuck is this bear thing?" Tim swore. He was greeted only with shrugs from his team.

It had been 2 hours and they still hadn't found it. Finally, they decided to have a meeting. Caught put up a force-field and the meeting began.

"Ok. Here's how we do this. Tim and I distract him. You and Evan attack from behind. I know you don't want to follow orders from me; I wouldn't either. Just.. trust me on this, guys." Caught commanded. "Yeah, I could probably torch him from the back while Evan uses his stabbing powers." Noah replied casually.

As if on cue, they heard a roar from behind. "Let's get dangerous." Evan announced with glee.

Immediately, everyone was in their places.

Caught had Tim under a forcefield. The Ursa lunged and the other two attacked.

Evan immediately cleaved the mask of the Grimm in half. Noah's hands were afire as he launched fireball after fireball at the Grimm.

The Grimm snapped at Evan and immediately the others joined in, attacking this Grimm.

Evan's knife glowed red as he made the killing strike.

Tim could hear only one word in his head as the Ursa fell.

 _Traitor._

As they walked out of the woods, they were smiling.

"I really hope I'm not the leader, guys." Caught confessed.

"Is it wrong that I made Caught the leader purely because it would make for a better acronym?" Ozpin sighed to Glynda, his head in his hands.

The boys were now back at Ozpin's office.

"It took much debate, but now I have decided the leader. Gentlemen, your fearless leader is Caught." Ozpin declared.

Caught's eyes narrowed.

"Your bravery and determination has proved you all a better match for a team than any I have ever seen. You have passed the test with flying colors. I give you your team name. You all, from now on until the sands of time obscure your names forevermore, are Team Citrine." Ozpin began.

"And as for your private teachers.." Ozpin added.

Glynda, Qrow, and Ironwood stepped into the room.

Glynda went first, stepping towards Evan. "With discipline, you could be an fierce creature on the battlefield. I trust we shall accomplish great things together, you and I." she declared with pride.

Qrow went next, striding towards Noah. "You impressed me with your wit and defiance. Not many kids would dare to call out their teacher for lying. You're a spitfire. Your experiences with the Collective showed that well. And most importantly, you're now my student, Noah Maxwell." Qrow announced.

Ironwood went after him, marching towards Tim. "Throughout your entire ordeal, you were strong-willed and brave even in the face of overwhelming danger. You never felt sorry for yourself, even as the situation called upon sacrifice after sacrifice. You learned in your years of life so far what most men cannot learn in a lifetime, Tim. I have taken it upon myself to teach you the ways of war." Ironwood informed.

Ozpin said nothing to Caught, merely raised an eyebrow.


	7. What The Rest Of Beacon Thought

Team RWBY had called a meeting in the library. Something was up with Ozpin and Qrow. Ruby and Yang barely ever saw Qrow anymore.

They had also invited Team JNPR over for additional help.

"Ok. From what I know, we haven't seen Ozpin and the others in _aaages._ I, Ruby Rose, have invited you all here to help us figure out why we haven't seen them. Does anybody have any theories?" Ruby began.

"ALIENS! IT HAS TO BE ALIENS! ONLY EXPLANATION!" Nora yelled as Ren shushed her. "That _would_ be cool if it was aliens." Blake added.

Yang raised a hand. "Well, maybe they're out of the school doing.. adult things like taxes?" she suggested.

Weiss shook her head. "No, that can't be it. I've seen them in the school. It has to be something else." she debunked.

Pyrrha was suspiciously quiet. "Do you have any theories, Pyrrha? You haven't been talking much." Jaune coaxed. She paused before spilling out the secret she had been keeping from her team this whole week.

".. I didn't know if I should tell you guys this, because I didn't want to get in trouble, but I found a man in the woods. He smelled like smoke, and there was a singed Ursa corpse lying next to him… he sounded like he didn't know where he was. When I told him he was in Vale, he looked confused. He didn't know about Grimm or even Dust. I took him to Beacon, up to Ozpin's office. When I dropped him off, I eavesdropped on Ozpin and the man's conversation. Ozpin knew him. Knew his name. I think he's still in the school, guys." Pyrrha divulged.

Blake looked deep in thought. "I remember Velvet was talking about how she found another guy in the woods, too. He knew Ozpin as well, apparently. She took him to Beacon, up to Ozpin's office. Exactly the same as your case." she recalled.

"... What if the reason we haven't seen Ozpin and the others is because they're training these guys from the woods?" Ruby realized.

"Let's start with the sword, first. It's an oldie, but it gets the job done." Qrow started.

He grabbed a wooden training sword and handed it to Noah. "C'mon. Try and hit me with it. Don't just **stand there** like you burned down a brothel!" Qrow added.

Noah took a beginner's slash at Qrow, who effortlessly blocked it.

"It's in you somewhere, I know it! Get crazier with your moves, Noah! That's the only way you're going to win this fight!" Qrow shouted. So Noah got crazier, as per his instructor's request. His swings were now emboldened and he wore a confident grin on his face.

Now the two were effortlessly locked in a battle that would not end anytime soon. Their blades were now dancing with pitch-fever intensity. "That's what I've been looking for! Let's see you grit those teeth, Noah!" Qrow praised.

Then Qrow went on the attack. Suddenly the tables were turned. Noah was now fighting for his pride. Qrow sensed Noah was getting weary. He could see the sweat on Noah's brow. So he disarmed Noah as effortlessly as he had blocked, pointing the wooden training sword at Noah's throat.

"You've done good today. I'll be taking you and your friends out to dinner tonight at this damn good hibachi place downtown as a reward." Qrow remarked with a wink and a grin. "Now go back to your dorm, you fluffy-haired motherfucker." he finished.

Noah walked out of the training room happy. Sweaty, but happy.


	8. Training Montage!

The Four Headmasters had convened a meeting that was more a progress report on their students than anything. It had been a week since Team CTNE was formed and already, the Headmasters were growing competitive over their protege's progress on the Crucible.

The Crucible was how a Hunter's weapon was decided. They would be given several weapons over the course of two weeks to handle. Whichever one (or ones) suited their fighting style the most would be incorporated into their weapon. There were a few exceptions to this rule.

(For example, people who possessed summoning Semblances always received a rapier as at least one form of their weapon. It channeled their Semblances easier and stronger than any other weapon known to Huntresses.)

But Team CTNE were not the exceptions this time; after they finished the Crucible, it would proceed as normal. Their newly forged weapons would be presented to them in an elaborate ceremony, they would learn the true sobriquet of their weapon, and then their true training would begin at last.

Ozpin looked proud. "I will go first," he vocalized. He thought back to just recently, when Caught had completed a milestone in his training..

Caught had shown great promise with the halberd. He had ample strength with the weapon, and it seemed to feel natural in his grasp. The training that day was exacting. Caught was handling himself surprisingly well. He seemed to enjoy it. With sweat upon his brow, he finished the final move in the 48-move chain he had been practicing for 3 days.

" **FINISHED!** " Caught roared to the air.

Ozpin nodded in approval. With a grin and no small amount of pride, he said the words he had been waiting to say for a long while: "You may move on to the next weapon form. You have completed the first part of the Crucible, Caught. I **am** proud of you."

Caught's face lit up like a neon sign. He nearly jumped 70 feet in the air. "YES! YES, I DID IT, I WIN! CAUGHT WINS! **FUCK** YES!" Caught shouted, losing himself in the feeling of victory.

 _Ironwood recalled the day he had found Tim's Semblance, with eagerness in his tone._

Ironwood had took Tim into the woods to observe his technique of battle. Ironwood had always believed in pragmatism when it came to training.

Tim's affinity with the whip was incendiary, enough that Ironwood considered it a shoe-in for his weapon. Tim was also quite good with the misericorde, as it looked.

So far Tim was shaping up to be one of, if not the, finest students he had ever taught.

Ironwood watched as Tim's whip lashed at the Grimm, licking the air. He was taking notes on Tim's technique, that he remembered. He heard the hiss of a King Taijitu. _This could be interesting,_ he thought.

He looked up and saw a sight that made him emit a sound of surprise that sounded vaguely like 'EH.'

Tim had a hand upon the scarred mask of a Beowolf Grimm. Tim's hand was swirling with blood-red energy, and his normally black eyes now glowed amber like brands. Tim seemed to be communicating with the Beowolf. There was no doubt in his mind now. This was Tim's Semblance.

Tim turned his head towards the scarred Beowolf and nodded, taking his hand off of the Beowolf's mask.

The Beowolf charged at the King Taijitu, brutally slashing at its serpentine throat. The Taijitu was writhing in pain. Tim wasted no time in pulling out his misericorde and stabbing it. Red splashed onto his face. As the Taijitu ceased its flailing, Tim let out an inhuman snarl. The Beowolf nodded at Tim and fled into the woods.

Tim stood there for a few minutes, his breathing heavy. Then he turned his amber gaze to Ironwood, his face bloodstained and feral. Ironwood recoiled. Tim's eyes were.. bestial would be an understatement. They were hungry and savage. The eyes of a Grimm.

Ironwood realized that if what he had seen was true, if Tim really could control Grimm and temporarily become as savage as them… then most likely he could summon them as well.

He could use this.

 _And Glynda recounted her experiences with the depths of Evan's knife obsession…_

She had targets up. Evan had thrown three knives so far, and most of them were stuck firmly in the heart. She looked on in shock as he threw three more into the bullseye with a grin.

Finally he looked at her with triumph in his eyes. Then he threw another, dead in the center. "Told you so," he gloated.

"My life would be a lie if I couldn't throw knives, Glynda."

"THAT'S MA'AM TO YOU, MR. JENNINGS."

 **Author's Note: Well then. This is the longest chapter yet, at 960 words. Wow. Let me clear a few things up.**

 **First, sorry for anyone that had to deal with the initial error with chapter 1.**

 **Second, Evan's Semblance is critical hits.**

 **Third, yes, there is a plot to the story and trust me, once it gets going it will be** **badass.** **There will be shenanigans in-between, though.**

 **Fourth, go check out nicedynamites on tumblr. He's not only responsible for a lot of the ideas in this fic that will come up later on (and some of the lines, as well) but he's also done some amazing art for the story (there was another one he did that has** **major spoilers** **for the upcoming arc, so i'll link that art to you when the time comes)**

 **Adieu, my dear readers! Remember to review, it helps get the creative juices flowing.**


	9. Crucible

_Two weeks later.._

Team CTNE had finally passed the Crucible against all odds. The ceremony was today. They were all thrilled to receive their weapons at last.

Ozpin stood at the front of an ancient room. This place had always been used for Crucible ceremony, in cases such as this.

Team CTNE stood at the center of the room, beaming with pride.

"Caught, step forth," Ozpin ordered. Caught stepped forth.

"From the forge your weapon awakes," Ozpin breathed.

"May my heart be tempered when my weapon's soul cascades forth into battle." Caught recited from memory.

And with no time wasted, Ozpin gently handed Caught an ebony and gold crossbow.

It continued like this. Tim received a silver dueling rapier that gleamed in the dim candlelight. Noah was given a blackened silver blade that looked beautiful and terrible to behold. And Evan was handed steel claws.

Once this happened, they were ordered to sit upon the four cushions at the back of the room and close their eyes.

They all closed their eyes in unison. As the scent of incense hit their noses, they were suddenly whisked away, into a place deep in their minds..

 _Caught awoke in what seemed like a void._ He stood there in contemplation for a bit. Then he heard a very familiar voice from behind him.

" **Hello again, Caught."** a distorted version of his voice snarled.

Caught turned around and saw himself. A distinctly pale-skinned and void-eyed version of himself wearing the same dark sweatshirt he often wore. He recognized this figure from the television monitors at that abandoned Cranbrook apartment. That creepy grin it wore still haunted him to this day.

"You're one of those creepy Puppet clones of me." Caught commented. The Puppet nodded.

" **I know where Natalie is.."** it taunted, creepy grin still on display. Caught's expression shifted from one of mild annoyance to barely restrained _fury._ "DON'T YOU DARE HARM HER! I SAW THE AFTERMATH VIDEO! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO HER!" he roared, his voice darker than before.

Its grin changed to a smirk. " **I'm not here for that. You'll be glad to know I have no intentions of harming Natalie."** it informed.

Caught's face lightened up considerably. " **Yet."** it added, its voice now matching Caught's in creepiness.

Caught had to restrain himself from choking the pale bastard. He knew what he had to do. "What is your name?" he asked, turning his tone into a sharp blade to be pointed in the Puppet's direction.

The Puppet's smile grew wider. " **Amnesiac."** it replied.

 _Tim awoke in a dark wood._ He sat in front of a roaring campfire. The night wrapped itself around him. Standing just across from him was.. him. His alternate self wore a Grimm mask and an Hunting outfit. His alternate self felt so familiar..

"Have we met before?" Tim asked. The figure's appearance shifted briefly to that of the Mask he used to wear, during the events of Marble Hornets. He recognized that black and white mask. Then the figure shifted back to its 'normal' appearance. Its speech flowed into Tim's head, and he was shocked at what it said.

 _give in._ it thought.

 _embrace it. you've always been so strict, haven't you? you've always locked away your animal impulses. well, guess what?_ _ **they're coming out now, and nothing can lock them away again. think of it as punishment. punishment for failing to save Jay, punishment for killing Alex, punishment for letting Brian die. this is going to be fun. seeing you try to fight it off, and failing badly enough that suddenly the thought of ripping your new 'friends' throats out becomes more and more appetizing by the minute? now THAT WILL BE FUN, WON'T IT? OH, NOW THAT WILL BE FUN. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**_

"What is your name?" he asked as commanded by Ozpin, his voice full of fear.

Then it all stopped. The sound of crazed laughter stopped.

"Masquerade." his alternate self breathed.

 _Noah awoke in a black and white version of the Boardwalk._ Firebrand stood in front of him, wearing a familiar but still really fucking creepy version of his smile. " **Good to see you, Noah."** Firebrand said.

" **Let's get down to business. Yes, I know what you came here for, but goddamnit, I am not letting you go until I tell you some shit you have to watch out for in the future."** Firebrand began. Noah mentally cursed. He wanted this to be easy and short.

" **First of all, you've gotta watch out for the others. They're struggling with the same shit you are. Especially Evan. I mean.. fuck, I almost feel** _ **sorry**_ **for what's gonna happen to the little dorito."** Firebrand mused.

Noah's eyes widened. "What happens to him?" Noah queried.

Firebrand shook his head. " **Can't tell you much. All I can tell you is that he won't be dead by the end of it, but for a little while he'll wish he was."** Firebrand replied.

" **Secondly… HABIT's old friend is coming over to Beacon. You have to make sure he doesn't get to Evan. You have to. That's gonna be the only way you avoid this."** Firebrand added.

" **Finally, please can I have your permission to use your body in the future, just in case shit hits the fan?"** he finished.

Noah looked agast. "Fuck no! You've already used it without having to ask me before, why're you doing it now?" Noah refused.

Firebrand shook his head. " **I know you don't trust me. Fuck, considering some of my behavior, I wouldn't trust me either. But right now, I'm doing this as a safeguard against the horrible stuff I've seen for Evan. We'll have to team up, you and I. After all.. I** **am** **you, in the end. Whatever you feel, I feel. Including your never-ending affection for your friends. Just.. please. Do this, if not for you, then for Evan. For all your friends."** Firebrand explained.

Noah nodded. "Fine." he agreed.

As Firebrand turned to walk away, he stopped mid-turn. " **Almost forgot. Your weapon's name is Firebrand as well. Fate's a bitch, isn't it?"** Firebrand finished.

 _Evan awoke on a familiar Bridge to Nowhere._

A figure looked down upon him.

HABIT. For some reason, HABIT still looked exactly the same as him.

" **WELL, WELL, WELL. YOUR WEAPON'S NAME IS A GOOD ONE."**

Evan held his breath in fear.

" **MERCILESS."** HABIT growled, a grin on his face.

Images flashed into Evan's head.

A tortured, broken man.

A bystander girl with blue hair.

And a name.

"Patrick Andersen."

 **Author's Note: :D**

 **Remember to review the story, helps get the creative juices flowing!**


	10. Nimby!

Tim walked through the courtyards in the freezing rain. The air had a bitter chill to it that seeped through his coat and clawed at his bones. Today was, by all accounts, a miserable day. A little ways away from him, he heard laughter.

He approached and saw Cardin Winchester, who was know throughout the school as the resident bully and puppy-kicker, smiling cruelly with his team and holding a small kitten. "Why don't we feed it to the Grimm?" Cardin suggested.

"Try it and I'll smash your leg in with a brick, Cardin." Tim threatened cooly. Cardin was not one to be humiliated, however. He swaggered up to Tim, his face arrogant.

"I've heard of you. Your team gets special treatment from the Headmasters, apparently. What'll you do to me if I try it? Will you go run away bawling to Ozpin? Get a grip, _liar._ " Cardin sneered.

Tim saw red. He was at that level of anger that was so potent he was calm.

Tim pulled a knife from his sleeve and silently thanked God he was on a team with Evan 'hide knives everywhere, even in my own teammate's clothes' Jennings. He took a breath in, steeling himself against losing his control due to what he was about to say.

Then he began.

"A year ago, I stabbed Alex Kralie in the neck until he stopped breathing." Tim breathed, his voice loud and low. "I can still see every detail of it in my head, you know. Right down to his thrashing and the fear in his eyes as he realized that just because he was once my _friend_ didn't mean I had any intention of sparing him." he continued.

There was fear in Cardin's eyes. Tim was right in Cardin's face now. " **Run."** Tim snarled. Cardin dropped the kitten. Then he and his team took off, yelling the word 'FREAK!' behind them as they fled.

Tim looking down at the wee, shivering kitten they left behind. He scooped the kitten into his arms, shielding it from the rain with his coat, and ran to the dorms.

" **Evan** , quit flailing around, my shoulders hurt!" Noah snapped. Caught shook his head. "This is a mountain of bad ideas just waiting to crush us while we sleep." Caught declared. He knew it wasn't a good idea to DIY bunkbeds.

"We all know Ozpin only made you the leader for the acronym!" Evan yelled from atop Noah's shoulders. "You have no power here, you grumbly motherfucker!" Evan finished, folding his arms in defiance. Finally, Evan crawled down from Noah's shoulders.

"BEHOLD!" he boomed, his face alight with fiendish glee. Noah grinned. "I always wanted a bunkbed." he revealed.

Caught sighed. Those two together were a car-crash in slow motion.

Tim burst into the room and the other three turned their heads in unison. There was something fidgeting around in his beige jacket. "What the fuck, Tim?" Noah asked.

Tim said nothing, but pulled out the kitten and gently placed it on the floor.

The reaction was immediate. Evan began producing unintelligible noises.

"Goddamnit, it's too cute, it's too goddamn cute," Noah said. He lunged for the kitten, gently holding it in his arms.

There was silence. Then Noah spoke. "Nimby. He will be Nimby." he crooned, cradling the kitten as if he were holding a babe. "Why do you get to name hiiim?" Evan complained. "Because I feed him, asshole." Noah deadpanned.

"We can't keep him, we'll get in trouble, this is a **bad idea and we should not do this,** " Caught ranted. "Hey, Team RWBY has a dog and nobody's yelled at _them_ yet." Noah defended. "They're basically the main protagonists of this weird shitty little anime, though. They never get in trouble for anything." Caught snapped in reply.

Noah paused to contemplate it, then nodded. "You got me there." he acknowledged.

"But Caught, we can't leave him! His eyes are full of **love.** " Evan added. Caught stared into Nimby's soulful eyes. It took two minutes for Caught to break.

"Fine." he grumbled.

 **Author's Note: Reviews give me joy and produce better chapters~**


	11. Time Catches Up With Us All

_Two days earlier.._

Team CTNE was holding their Nightly Group Therapy again. It started ever since the first night where Tim and Noah talked about their nightmares. Evan and Caught had joined them the second night, and so a nightly ritual had begun. Although most of them never outright said it, they all non-verbally agreed that it helped them mentally.

"First day of badass school's tomorrow! Glynda told me today. We get to learn fighty-stabby things with the small high school kids now! I'm pumped. How do the rest of you guys feel?" Evan chirped happily.

Noah smirked. "I've been practicing with my sword-glaive, Firebrand. Let's see if any of the other little shits have weapons as awesome as mine," Noah replied.

Caught nodded. "Let's show this school how Team CTNE rolls. And remember.." Caught commented.

"If anybody tries to bully us, we beat the shit out of them!" Evan added. There was a pause. Then they all collapsed into giggles and snickering.

"I'm excited. If He ever does come back to finish the job, we'll know enough about Dust to maybe have a fighting chance of killing it." Tim remarked. The team fell into a stunned silence, because they knew it was true.

Tim awoke to a pillow being slammed into his face and Evan screaming into his ear. "..what?" he blurted, still in morning phase.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP, WE'LL MISS PORT'S CLASS!" Evan yelled. Tim climbed down the ladder of the bunk bed, only to have clothes thrown at him violently. The others were already dressed and awake.

After that whole fiasco, Team CTNE found themselves in Port's class. Port himself stood at the front of the class, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Well then! We have five new transfer students here! Please come to the front of the classroom, Team CTNE!" Port announced.

They wandered up to the front. "Introductions, please!" Port declared.

"Caught." "Evan." "Tim." "Noah."

"Hm.. and where do you hail from? Those names sound foreign.." Port asked. The rest of Team CTNE stared at Caught. Ozpin had ordered them not to say where they really came from. Caught had to improvise _now._

"Classified. We can't tell you. Ozpin's orders." Caught replied. One of Port's bushy eyebrows raised in curiosity. Then he seemed to drop the thought.

"Go back to your seats, then. We also have one other transfer student, hailing from Mistral." Port ordered.

They wandered back to their seats. There was another transfer student? Ozpin informed them that they were going to be the only ones..

A charming and very good-looking man, looking to be about their age, wandered to the front.

"And what might your name be, young man?" Port inquired.

The man smiled a falsely innocent grin. "Patrick Andersen." he revealed.

Evan's blood ran cold in its veins. The image that had swirled into his head last he had heard that name was of a blood-stained, well-dressed man with a malicious smirk.. who just so happened to look _exactly the same as the man who stood before them._

"I'm quite happy to be working with you all." Patrick began, his gaze lingering on Evan just a moment too long with that **creepy goddamn fake-innocent grin**.

The others in his team smirked and leaned in towards Evan. "Ooh, somebody's got a secret admirer.." Noah teased, whispering into Evan's right ear.

"Evan and Patrick, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Caught taunted, sitting on Evan's left.

Evan was dying inside.

He didn't bring it up at therapy that night.

And he had nightmares of Patrick, slicing him to the bone,

Patrick, whispering in his ear and being generally stalkerish as fuck,

And Patrick, murdering all of his friends.

 **Author's Note: post/138408336213/nicedynamites-its-penthepoets-fault-oh-my Here's some fanart!**

 **Everytime you post a review, I respond with a fun fact about this fanfiction.**

 **Review away.**


	12. Relapse

It was sparring day. Team CTNE was up. Evan was pretty excited. He would finally get to use Merciless on the field! He waited to see who he would spar with this time. Nothing could ruin this day for him, nothing at all -

Evan watched, with dawning horror, as the roulette landed upon Patrick. Evan tried not to show how afraid he was as the well-dressed man strode over with almost infernal elegance. "Nice to see you again, **Evan,** " Patrick greeted.

"To be honest, I've been waiting to see how you fight. If you fight as well as you look, Evan dear, I'm in for one hell of a show." he continued.

Evan didn't react. He wasn't going to let his nightmares get in the way of this match. He took a deep breath in and flicked his wrist, unsheathing his steel claws.

Patrick's wickedly blood-red fire-axe gleamed in his hands. Immediately he rushed into battle, his axe cleaving the air. He swung at Evan with frightening speed. His grin was frenzied and filled with unmatched bloodlust.

But it was the sadistic gleam in his eye that truly terrified Evan.

Their blades locked. Patrick leaned in, insane grin on full display.

" **I know you have nightmares about me,"** Patrick purred darkly. Evan's heart seemed to beat in reverse. He could feel something stir in the back of his head. "You.. shouldn't know that.." Evan breathed.

Patrick broke through the lock and the match continued. The two matched each other's blows.

But Patrick was ultimately the better fighter. He had Evan cornered. He pinned Evan to the wall. Evan looked down at the floor. The last thing he wanted to look into right now was Patrick's eyes. " _ **Look up, Evan."**_ Patrick hissed coldly.

Evan did not look up.

Patrick tilted Evan's chin up with two fingers.

A grin of satisfaction grew across his face. "That's better." Patrick mused, staring into Evan's eyes with more than malicious intentions.

"ENOUGH!" Glynda roared. She pulled Patrick off of Evan. Evan sighed in relief. "I know that Sanctuary students are not taught to act this way! Behave yourself, Mr. Andersen!" she barked.

Patrick's grin had hardened to the falsely innocent grin he usually wore around Beacon faculty and students. "But, of course, Ms. Goodwytch. I won't misbehave. After all, I don't want to bother you with my troubles." he apologized.

What happened next was something that Evan never forgot. Patrick's eyes flashed red as blood, just for a moment. Glynda's expression softened and her eyes grew tired.

"I'll leave you to it, then, Mr. Andersen," she said in a sleepy monotone.

Patrick turned to Evan, still smiling. Patrick's eyes flashed red again. And Evan heard Patrick's voice in his head. " _ **I could do this to you as easily as I could with Ms. Glynda. After all, as my friend says, we are all creatures of habit..**_ " Patrick's voice hissed with malicious glee.

Evan was horrified.

So he, entirely of his own volition, got up and ran like hell back to his dorm. Patrick's dark laughter echoed in his head as he ran.

Without hesitation, the rest of Team CTNE took off after him.

Patrick's grin was genuine and bloodthirsty now. He knew it was going to be so much _fun_ , breaking little Evan.

Evan got to his dorm, curled up into a little ball on his bunk, and began to take deep breaths. " _He's not going to hurt me, he's not going to hurt me.._ " Evan repeated, over and over again. The pain in his head was getting so much worse. And then he realized exactly why his head hurt so much. In one, painful realization his mental health drained.

Caught, Tim, and Noah stormed in to find Evan sobbing. They immediately rushed to his side.

"What did he say to you? What did the little fucker say?" Noah asked.

So Evan told them everything.

When it was done, the others were livid.

"If he tries to lay a finger on you, we will beat the shit out of him. You do realize that, right?" Caught reassured.

Evan nodded, mutely.

Noah was slightly in shock, though.

Because when Evan explained, Firebrand said one thing: "I warned you."

 **Author's Note: Reviews get me fired-up in a damn good way!**

 **Send them over!**


	13. Coffee Time! Part 1

Noah's eyes flickered open. He slowly became aware of Evan staring him in the face with a shiteating grin.

"Nooooah, I've got something to cheer the both of us up.." Evan informed.

"God, what is it?" Noah asked, his tone acrid and sarcastic.

Evan slowly held up a medium sized cloth drawstring bag that looked full to bursting with something that smelled like.. coffee.

Noah realized in an instant _exactly where Evan got that drawstring bag._

The others rocketed awake. "You did not." Caught gasped.

"I did," Evan replied.

"Evan, no." Noah scolded.

" **Evan yes.** " Evan grinned.

Eventually, with much hesitation, he managed to get the rest on board.

He was smiling as he was brewing it.

"It was stupidly easy to steal from Oobleck's office. 'Like he was just _begging_ me to take it." Evan bragged.

Tim was examining the drawstring bag itself. "This bag says that one of the side effects of drinking this is hallucinations." he remarked, very matter of factly.

Evan turned around with shock engraved on his features. "Really?" he asked.

Tim looked back at the text written on the bag and nodded.

Evan's grin grew even wider as he snatched the cup of coffee from its perch and downed it in one gulp.

He suddenly underwent a metaphorical transformation. His pupils dilated to the point where he looked completely insane. His body began to shake.

He looked around frantically. Then he winced. "I SEE DEAD PEOPLE." he bemoaned.

"Oh god, we haven't even started classes yet and Evan's gotten high on coffee." Noah sighed.

 **Author's Note: god, sorry for the short chapter today. it's a weekend my body begs for rest and nourishment.**


	14. Coffee Time! Part 2

Port sat calmly at his desk, sipping chai and taking a few deep breaths in. He was steadying himself during the student's lunch break.

Suddenly Oobleck burst into the room. "IT'S HAPPENED. FIRST TIME THIS YEAR. SOMEBODY'S STOLEN MY COFFEE. AND I THINK I KNOW THE CULPRIT." he blurted.

Port's eyebrows shot up. "Calm down! Could you explain more carefully, Barty?" Port queried.

Oobleck nodded.

" _I woke up at approximately 0630 this morning to brew some of my special 'Lightning Dust' coffee. And I observed a bag of the coffee beans missing from amongst my collection of 742 bags. I planned out how to catch the culprit before rushing to you, dear friend, because in the wrong dosages, this coffee could be extremely dangerous._ " Oobleck ranted.

Port nodded, in a state of ever so slight confusion.

"..Wait, I remember you saying that drinking one cup can make you hallucinate, and I've seen you drink 17 cups on your _diet_ days.." Port recalled.

Oobleck merely pushed his spectacles up and stood there in contemplation for a moment. "I have learned to ride the Nevermore, not let the Nevermore ride me." he said with such resolute firmness that Port actually _believed_ the madman.

"Who do you think the culprit is, then?" Port asked.

"Evan Jennings." was Oobleck's reply.

"Why?"

"Because he's acting the way I did when I had my first cup in the cafeteria." Oobleck answered.

 _In the Courtyard.._

Evan had Cardin pinned to the floor with throwing knives, and had a knife pointing straight for Cardin's manhood. "CALL ME A SHORTASS ONE MORE TIME, MY FRIEND! IF I HEAR THOSE WORDS COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IN THE EXACT ORDER I HEARD FROM YOUR FUCKBOY ASS, I WILL CRUSH YOU." Evan roared, his face the epitome of displeasure.

"I didn't say anything.." Cardin faltered.

"NO, TRUST ME, I HEARD YOU WERE TALKING SHIT. RULE NUMBER ONE: DO NOT TALK SHIT ABOUT ME IN MY EARSHOT. I will beat the shit out of you. Then I will break your ribs." Evan replied, going from shouting to a dull roar.

"It's true. Not taking back anything I said." Cardin quipped.

The results were exactly what you would expect from a drugged-up, bordering on inHABITED Evan.

Noah and the others were shaking their heads. "That's nasty as fuck." was all Noah said.

"Well, let's look at the bright side, at least Evan didn't break his ribs yet- I stand corrected." Caught asserted.

What else did drugged Evan do that day? Horrible things.

Evan sat behind Noah, just sucking in air. Noah turned to Evan and opened his mouth to say "What the fuck." Evan suddenly got up on his desk and burst into roaring pirate chanteys.

Now they were doodling pictures in Port's class. Evan just stared at the paper, horrified. "AN ADULT! I NEED AN ADULT!" Evan bellowed. "I can help," Patrick whispered into Evan's ear. Evan recoiled, disgust on his face. "Get _away_ from me, you malicious suspenders-wearing Faustian **demon**." he cried, pointing at Patrick.

"I'm not a demon." Patrick replied. "You're lying and we all know it." Evan snapped.

Sadly enough, it did not end for the rest of Team CTNE when night fell.

They had to deal with Evan singing songs from The Clash and Alice Cooper, right up until Noah duct-taped Evan's head to a pillow.

Then there was blessed silence.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Please forgive me for the short chapters. It's Super Bowl weekend and I'm tired as fuck. Normal updates should resume by tomorrow.**

 **Please review. It brings me happiness, and dare I say it, determination.**


	15. The Witching Hour

Noah lay awake in his bed, staring at the bottom of Tim's bed. You didn't really get scenic views while in a bottom bunk. Thoughts of Milo swirled around in his head. He still did miss Milo Asher, so much.

The door opened, and Noah got the most overwhelming feeling of _dread._ He closed his eyes and made himself look asleep to the point where any outside observer couldn't tell the difference. He felt a deep calm pool inside him. Then he heard the one voice he never wanted to hear in this room and the calm chilled to ice itself.

"Well, well. I've finally entered Team Citrine's room, for the third time. Which bed is little Evan resting his lovely little head in.." Patrick whispered to himself, holding a camera in his hands.

A chill rushed down Noah's spine. ' **Holy shit, he's here.'** Noah thought to himself. He could see everything, through his half-shut eyelids.

Patrick strode towards Evan's bunk. "Oh, what a cute little face.. You really did have good taste in vessels, didn't you, Hab? … I miss you, I really do. Haven't seen you in ages," he breathed softly. He stroked Evan's face, ever so gently, with a small grin on his features.

"It's almost _selfish_ of you, Evan, to be doing this. I have friends I like too, you know! ...You've kept my friend locked away in your brain for so long. I've dealt with it for some time. But I have my _limits,_ Evan dear," he hissed quietly into Evan's ear.

"I'll bring you back, Hab, my dear. I'll bring you back and we can take the world by **storm** again. We can paint the town red, just like good old times," he continued.

"I'm going to break them all, Hab, I am. I'll break Caught, I'll break Tim so deeply he won't even be able to breathe, I'll definitely break Noah, and Evan I'll save for last. You'll see," he muttered. "You'll see. I'll use the knife, just for you," he repeated.

Then he walked up the ladder and Noah heard Patrick breathe dark things into Tim's ear. He blocked out nearly all of it, except for one thing: " **You fascinate me."**

Noah saw Patrick leave notes under everybody's pillows and take picture after picture.

The final thing that Patrick did was walk to Noah's bed and just.. look at him. Every so often he would stroke Noah's face. Every moment of it was hell to Noah. He could not move or give any indication that he was awake.

He could see Patrick's face. Patrick seemed to be enjoying it, tracing Noah's features with a finger. "I could drown you, Noah. It would be so **easy** to just extinguish that flame." Patrick mused.

Then he put his hands on Noah's neck, as if to strangle him. He seemed to be _considering_ it. Noah was paralyzed, almost corpse-like. He stared up into those bloodthirsty eyes and saw Patrick's true, demonic nature. Patrick removed his hands from Noah's neck, almost stroking it.

Then he began to walk towards the door. But he stopped in front of it and turned to Noah.

His grin was sadistic and his eyes sparked with maliciousness.

"You'll die slowly, don't worry," he purred, waving goodbye to Noah.

And he strode out of the room, the image of that grin burned into Noah's memory,

those words echoing in Noah's head.

" _You'll die slowly, don't worry."_

Evan took 3 showers the next day, as if to wash away any traces of Patrick on him.

The others were understandably rattled for a little while.

And Patrick knew, even seemed to **revel** in their paranoia.

Every time Noah looked at him, the same smile that plagued Noah's nightmares would spread across his face.

And Evan, poor thing, heard Patrick's wicked laughter in every one of his dreams.


	16. tempus edax rerum

Classes were almost done. It was night. The others had gotten dinner and were staying at the bar to eat dessert. Evan wanted to just chill for a little bit before going to Oobleck's class.

Evan wandered into his dorm. At last, there was a break and he could relax!

He was scanning the room when a note, laid ever so gently on his bed, caught his eye. He had a suspicion of who wrote it. He picked it up and read the words inscribed lovingly upon the paper: " **I've reached my limit, Evan dear. Regards, your secret admirer. Also, forgot to mention: look behind you."**

Evan took a deep breath in and turned around, staring into the blood-red eyes he feared. Patrick wore a grin as he said the words "Fall unconscious for me, please. It'll make my job so much easier."

And Evan's vision went black as night as he felt himself fall into Patrick's arms.

Patrick was about to carry Evan out of the room when he felt something sink tiny little claws and fangs into his leg. He looked down and there was Nimby, attacking him.

Patrick grimaced. His eyes glowed red as he near growled in exasperation and kicked Nimby off his leg.

Nimby ran and hid underneath the bunk, and Patrick carried Evan out of the room in his arms. It didn't take an idiot to see how much Patrick was enjoying it.

* * *

Evan awoke strapped to a chair, drowning in darkness. He felt helpless, trapped in this void. Then a voice whispered into his ear that sent chills down his spine.

"Hello, Evan **.** " Patrick's voice hissed, his voice a special kind of sadistic.

There was silence as Patrick strode over and set a lantern alight, illuminating his face.

"Tell me this, Evan. What did you do with my friend?" Patrick inquired. Evan's face looked ever so confused. "Look, I don't know your _friend,_ alright?" Evan replied, trying to ignore the pull in his head.

Patrick just _smiled._

"Oh, you know him. I know he's in there somewhere. I know he is," was all that Patrick said.

And horror dawned on Evan as he realized **exactly** who Patrick was talking about.

Suddenly his chest seized as he felt HABIT sink its claws into his head and take back control.

A smile that wasn't his spread across his face. " **GOOD TO SEE YOU, PAT,"** HABIT greeted.

Then it withdrew once more, leaving him behind in its wake. Pain pulsed through Evan's head. It was agony, dark fire reaching to the very edges of his brain. "No, no, no, shit, STOP, PLEASE JUST STOP," Evan began to scream, his mind filled with images of the torn-apart Damsel and the ashes of Jeff.

Patrick's grin was something truly terrifying to behold. His eyes were gleaming fiercely with pleasure.

"There we go. Got you now. Good to see you too, buddy!" Patrick chirped.

And Evan was just screaming, screaming, screaming.

* * *

Caught, Tim and Noah were at Oobleck's class already. It had been an hour and Evan hadn't come back. They knew something was up.

Caught, Tim and Noah were sitting in class, shuffling uneasily in their seats. Noah was half-listening to the roll when he realized who _else_ was missing from the class - Patrick. In a moment, he realized **exactly** what had happened to his friend. He looked at the others and there was a moment of mutual understanding shared between them.

The three fled the class together. Caught stopped mid-run. The others turned around. "Why'd you stop?" Noah asked. Caught shook his head. "Could you take over leadership of the team until we find Evan? You seem to be know more about this than I do." Caught asked.

Noah nodded, his face determined. "I understand. I'll take it over for now. Right now, though, we need to get to the dorm." Noah informed.

* * *

When they got to the dorm, Nimby limped out to greet them. There was a gash on his leg. "Motherfucker hurt Nimby!" Noah yelled.

"Guys… I think you need to see this." Tim remarked vacantly.

He held up a note that could have only come from one person. He handed it over to Noah to read.

It read: " **Come. Get. Him. He's with me in the woods."**

The note set aflame in Noah's grasp. His hands trembled with unrestrained rage.

"He hurt Nimby. He stole Evan. Next time I see a glimpse of Patrick, I'll burn his heart from his fuckin' chest." Noah swore.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Wow. Shit got dark _fast_. Sorry, guys. But hey, the next chapter's gonna be  FUCKIN' BADASS. That'll be my apology to you for this, ok?**

 **Also, we now have a TvTropes page for this fic!**

 **/FanFic/NoahMaxwellTakesALittleTripHere**

 **Please contribute if you can! It shall bring me great joy, which leads to better and longer chapters.**

 **Almost as much joy as reviews. Nope, didn't forget to put that reminder in. ;)**


	17. Time's Up

The moon shone crimson that night. Noah led Caught and Tim into the woods. "We're splitting up! You guys pick where to go, I'll be going south." Noah commanded.

So they split up.

* * *

Caught fled to the west. He could just barely see the forest floor through the thick canopy. Gods, it was dark. But still he walked onwards with his halberd, Amnesiac, by his side. He heard it suddenly.

"CAUGHT! HELP ME!" Evan yelled. Caught ran towards the noise and saw Evan standing in front of him.

Caught ran towards Evan. The two embraced tenderly. "Evan, are you hurt?" Caught asked.

Evan looked melancholy. "I'm sorry." was all he said.

Caught raised his eyebrows in confusion before he felt something slice the back of his neck, then catch a drop of his blood. It wasn't fatal, he knew that.

But it still made him emit a guttural scream.

As he slumped to his knees, he saw Patrick standing behind Evan, covering Evan's mouth with a smirk. They vanished just as his vision faded.

* * *

Tim fled to the east. He had Masquerade at the ready, in case anything tried to attack him.

He could hear something moving behind him.

He turned around and out of the corner of his eye he could swear he saw a ghost from his past. He blinked and the figure was gone.

He felt something pierce him from the side. He turned around and saw Patrick with a dagger and a blood-filled vial.

"Good night." Patrick hissed. Tim was frozen to the ground. He could not move nor speak.

* * *

Noah tore through the woods, his eyes ablaze with white-hot rage. His blackened blade was gripped firmly in his right hand. "EVAN! IT'S ME! NOAH!" he yelled.

The voice that replied was definitely not Evan's. Out from the wild moors, Noah heard dark and merciless laughter that sound almost _mocking_ to his ears. Noah knew that laugh.

He charged towards the laughter onto the wild moors, wind rushing through his unkempt ebony hair.

Standing upon the moor was Patrick. His familiar fire-axe was gone, replaced by an blood-red and wickedly sharp executioner's axe.

Noah's fists set alight with flame.

" **YOU."** Noah snarled.

Patrick just looked at Noah with a bemused expression. "Let's see if you're as much of a spitfire in battle as you are in general." Patrick snarked.

They threw themselves into battle with stunning brutality. Sparks flew off their weapons as they struck each other.

"You really are a worthless piece of shit, aren't you?" Patrick taunted as their blades were locked in combat.

Noah remembered where he had heard that before. The journal. Milo's journal.

"Fuck you," Noah remarked coldly. Patrick just smiled in reply.

"You're a washed-up, pathetic drunk, Maxwell. Face the facts, just give up already," Patrick mocked. "Milo Asher would be ashamed of you." he added.

"Let's team up to scorch this fucker," Noah heard Firebrand snarl in the back of his head. Noah didn't hesitate before nodding in agreement. "Do it." Noah whispered.

Noah looked down and saw himself **burn.** Patrick looked on, intrigued.

Flame was devouring Noah now. He now realized his fate had caught up with him. Firebrand and Noah had combined into one unstable, sparking creature.

The two were in unison, and there was one thought surging through their head:

 **Make him pay.**

Frenzied laughter erupted from the flames.

The flames exploded outwards and Noahbrand now stood in Noah's place. And he was _pissed_.

Noahbrand lunged at Patrick, grabbing his throat, searing his flesh. Patrick winced, but he did not scream. Not yet. There was sadism in Noahbrand's eyes. That white pinprick gaze pierced Patrick to the core.

" **You will not hurt my friends."** Noahbrand growled, a grin on his face. " **You'll never even lay a fucking finger on them ever again. Not while I'm here. You're going to** _ **burn.**_ " he added.

Flame lit up Noahbrand's hands and Patrick screamed, wild and feral. Noahbrand's sadistic grin grew even wider.

" **That's right, fucker! BURN!"** Noahbrand roared, laughing crazily.

"You can't kill me, Firebrand. I'm like HABIT: have to have a vessel to do my work here. And this poor vessel had nothing to do with this. You're really going to kill him to spite me? Hahahaha. You really are like _them._ " Patrick managed to choke out.

Noahbrand looked down at Patrick. His form flickered and for a moment, his true Collective form was revealed. " **Who's laughing now, Patrick?"** Noahbrand spat as he dropped Patrick, leaving an imprint of his hand seared into Patrick's neck.

Patrick looked at the ground in horror. "You.. you're sealing me away. You're _pathetic._ " Patrick hissed.

Noahbrand smiled as he walked away from Patrick and the charred circle surrounding him. Patrick held up the vial. He'd managed to get one drop of Noah's blood, just one.

Evan rushed towards Patrick, plucking the vial of his friend's blood from Patrick's shaking hands and drinking it before he became aware that he wasn't in control.

"..Hab?" Patrick asked, hope and grief streaking his voice. Evan's face lit up with a feral grin. " **PAT."** HABIT replied.

"Well, your little Collective pal sealed me away for a little bit… could you wait for me a little while longer, Hab?"

HABIT leaned down and kissed Patrick's brow. " **YOU KNOW I WILL."** HABIT reassured, before Evan passed out next to Michael with their left hands on top of the other.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Remember when I said that nicedynamites made some really spoiler-y art that I would link to you when the time came? Now is the time.**

 **post/138050518813/unfinished-slenderverse-doodles**

 **post/138636276793/the-squad-u-never-wanted**

 **What will we see in the next arc? Beautiful things.**

 **Also, we will see Patrick again. He'll be one of those villains that occasionally pops up and causes minor annoyances for everyone.**


	18. Wedding On A Dare!

**Author's Note: Remember when on my tumblr I said that Evan and Noah getting fake-married was a canon event that I was going to wait to explain until the time was right? The time is now, my friends. May I present to you: A full explanation about how exactly the Jennings/Maxwell wedding went down. Enjoy, me friends.**

The night was a cold one. Team Citrine was holding a special Nightly Group Therapy session with Michael Andersen, who had unofficially 'joined' their team just recently.

Actually, it was less 'group therapy' and more 'Truth or Dare' this time.

"Truth or dare, Michael?" Caught asked.

"Truth," Michael smirked.

"Was your brother really that big of a dick?" Caught queried. Michael nodded, taking a swig of hot cocoa. "He was."

Caught raised his eyebrows before it went to Evan and Noah.

"Truth or dare, Noah?" Evan asked. "Dare me, you little shit." Noah replied, causing many in the room to snicker.

Evan, with obvious glee in his eyes, got down on one knee and pulled out a little box.

The box opened to reveal a blackened, orange Dust-infused ring.

"I dare you.. to marry me, Noah!" Evan challenged, his voice smug and confident as hell. "FFFFFFUCK," Noah swore.

"I CAN'T SAY NO BECAUSE I'D LOSE THE DARE AND I CAN'T PASS BECAUSE MY HONOR DEPENDS ON IT. SO YES, LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GETTING MARRIED THIS OCTOBER, YOU JUMPED-UP LITTLE SHIT." Noah yelled at Evan.

The others were gasping for air, they were laughing so hard. "OH MY GOD, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, IS THIS EVEN REAL?" Caught snickered.

"YEAH, BECAUSE MR. CHUCKLEFUCK HERE WANTS ME TO BE HIS MRS. CHUCKLEFUCK," Noah quipped, pointing an accusatory finger at Evan.

It took **15 minutes** for the laughter to die down. Then the planning began.

"We literally just saw you two get engaged. I'll be the reverend for the wedding, you'll need one," Caught declared.

"Pyrrha's maid of honor. She deserves it, she'll be able to defend us if shit goes down with Patrick," Noah chirped. "Then Tim's the best man and Qrow's one of the groomsmen," Evan replied quick-wittedly.

"When's the wedding taking place, Noah, my fiancee?"

"October 27."

"Glad we have that sorted out, then."

The day of reckoning had arrived. October 27. Pretty much anybody who was anybody at Beacon was there. Even the teachers.

Even Patrick, who had managed to sneak in.

The bridesmaids, Pyrrha leading them, were helping Noah get into his dress.

It, in and of itself, was quite a stunning dress. Well picked, for a man such as Noah Maxwell to wear on his wedding day.

"FUCK. This corset's really damn tight," Noah complained. "Just for you," Pyrrha said with a mirthful grin as she pulled tighter.

Noah looked at himself in the mirror. He did look really damn good. He twirled around to see the black, starry dress sparkle and seem to set aflame with light.

"I do love this." he commented, offhandedly.

Tim came in. "The wedding's about to happen. Get the veil on, you're ready, let's go!" Tim said.

And so Noah Maxwell, with blackened veil and starry dress, walked onto the aisle.

With one breath, he kicked the door open.

Caught walked in front of him, holding a boombox aloft that was blaring the Imperial March from Star Wars.

Noah strode down the aisle, in his dominatrix boots and his blackened starry dress and his ebony veil. He was owning it with a grin. Holy shit, this was happening, he was getting real-married on a _dare._ Many of the guests were taking pictures.

Evan stood at the end of the aisle wearing a fine black suit, dabbing at the corner of his eyes with a purple handkerchief.

Noah finally reached the end of the aisle, with the bridesmaids flanking him.

And with that, the wedding began. Noah reached for the rings, which were tied to Nimby's collar. Caught slapped his hand away. "Vows first. Then we get to the rings." Caught snarked.

With a sigh, Noah began his vows. He couldn't say it was a dare. He had to lead the rest of Beacon on. Fuck.

"When you proposed to me, I felt a sense of necessity. I.. realized I really did like you back? So I stand here, at this altar, wearing these weird ass dominatrix boots and this amazing dress, with you. Part of me thinks this is a dream. And I know it isn't. The other half feels like somebody set you up to do this. And I know that isn't true, either," Noah began.

"Let's do this, then. Let's make mistakes. Let's get married." Noah finished.

Evan nodded. His eyes were something mischievous.

All he said for his vows was "I hear you ask it, Noah: has this gone too far? Well I say, it hasn't gone far _enough._ "

Then Evan kissed Noah. In full view of everyone at Beacon. Including the teachers. Including Patrick, who was about to implode. It was a winning move. Everybody just ate it up.

Noah could feel Evan's shit-eating grin as the two kissed. 'Goddamnit,' Noah whispered.

When the two separated after that kiss, Noah looked Evan in the eyes.

Evan looked almost _giddy_ that he had been able to pull that one off in front of the whole of Beacon.

Noah looked confused and almost a little scared about where the rest of this night was going.

"Does anybody object to this marriage? Speak now or forever hold your peace." Caught announced.

Patrick slammed the doors of the chapel wide open. "I DO!" he roared. "EVAN'S MINE."

Caught looked at him. "That isn't a legal reason." Caught stated flatly, squinting his eyes at Patrick.

The wedding proceeded. Patrick stormed out, pissed. Rings were exchanged. Noah and Evan walked out of the chapel married.

They immediately went to the Beacon Dance Hall, where they immediately formulated a plan to get _raging drunk._

Patrick managed to chronicle a timeline of all this, because he was currently stalking Noah.

Evan somehow managed to steal an electric guitar, so he and Noah (now turned Noahbrand) were doing covers of hard rock songs in Beacon's Dance Hall.

When Noahbrand sang, people listened and enjoyed it a little too much.

At one point, the two newlyweds crowd surfed.

It was at 8:57 pm when people started giving Noahbrand shit to burn. Evan thanked god that Noah's dress was fireproof.

Around 9:30 was when they were kicked out of the Dance Hall. Because it was too late, apparently.

"Go to sleep, kids." the moderators said. "FUCK YOU!" was all drunk Noah yelled in reply.

9:45 pm was when an extremely hammered Evan and Noah stumbled to downtown Vale.

Noah had a backpack in hand with the essentials.

They didn't know that Patrick was following them from the shadows. It was in his best interest to keep his beloved, dear Evan safe from all the things that may lurk out there in the belly of Vale.

10:15 was when Noah and Evan stumbled into a bar called Prism. Noah worked there for all of 30 minutes before fleeing.

10:45 was when a blackout drunk Noah and a trainwreck called Evan kicked down the door to a hibachi restaurant they had visited a while back. They got a bit too loud and were kicked out at 10:59.

The grand finale was at 11:27 pm at night. They managed to get into a theatre that just so happened to be showing Rocky Horror Picture Show. Evan and Noah walked in on an argument between the actors of Columbia and Magenta..

"Art and Brennwich are missing! We need a Frank and Rocky.." Columbia said before turning to Noah and Evan.

There was a stare-down for a minute before Columbia said the words. "Would you like to star in a production of one of the greatest cult classics of all time, random strangers who just walked in?" Columbia pleaded.

Caught had gotten an anonymous message addressed from a 'P.'

He wasn't a fuckin' idiot, he knew very damn well what exactly 'P' stood for: Patrick Andersen. He'd bet money on it.

"Come to the Arnas Theatre tonight, a few friends of yours are there in a production.." the message stated.

Caught looked up at the stage just in time.

Noah Maxwell stood there, in the erotic garb of Doctor Frank-N-Furter.

And **fuck if he wasn't killing it in those strapping, kinky boots of his.**

The makeup he wore was vaguely seductive.

And Evan stood next to him, hips shining in golden spandex shorts.

Caught lifted up his phone and took picture after picture. He wasn't missing this for the world.

He was the one to guide the two back to their dorm, gently shepherding them into the room.

The drunken newlyweds were still wearing their outfits.

Unbeknownst to them, the people in the dorms to the left and right of theirs were taking bets on what exactly happened before and after this.

"Alright," Caught said. "I don't want any bullshit from any of you two for the rest of the night."

"No making out, save that for later.. no singing Alice Cooper, I've heard far too much of it tonight.. and if you yell 'Fuck the king' one more time, I will duct-tape your heads to pillows." Caught explained.

Unfortunately, the two looked at each other and seemed to get ideas. Caught facepalmed as Evan and Noah slammed into bed and started making out extremely sloppily. "Goddamnit." Caught deadpanned.

Again, Caught and Tim ignored it. They ignored it until the two fell asleep, snoring loudly.


	19. THIS ISN'T OVER

**Author's Note: And Now For Something Completely Different.**

Cinder Fall was biding her time. So far, to say that the plan was going.. _lackluster_ would be a drastic understatement.

"ROMAAAN!" she roared.

In an instant, Torchwick was at her side.

"Yeah, Cinder? What d'you need? More Dust? Some more soldiers from the White Fang? Perhaps a lady of the night or two?.." Torchwick quipped.

"Would you please care to tell me how exactly you were defeated by a _little girl in a red hood_ _, Torchwick?_ " Cinder replied in a bitter tone.

Torchwick raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't my fault. She had the silver eyes, Cinder. An formidable little beast, that Red." he shrugged.

Cinder's eyes widened. " _You will tell me this beforehand in the future, Roman,_ " she hissed. Then, quick as lightning, her hand lashed out and backhanded Torchwick across the face.

"OW! FUCK YOU!" Torchwick spat as he was thrown to the ground.

Cinder looked at him with pity. She paused for a moment before speaking again.

"I can never stay mad at you for long, can I, my dear Roman?" she mused. Torchwick put on the smirk that was so often frozen on his face.

"Why don't we waltz like we used to, before all this? We did it all the time back then..." Torchwick suggested. Cinder's smile was a real and genuine one.

Torchwick whipped out his Scroll and put on a fitting, heated waltz. He set the Scroll down on a table, ever so gently. The two linked arms and began to dance, smiling genuinely. Their steps were in perfect sync, as if they had practiced together on nights before..

The two twirled and stepped together as one for several minutes. It ended with Cinder ever so gently ghosting her lips over that of Torchwick's, as if to breathe her fire into his locked-away, withering heart.

Then Mercury stumbled into the room, panic setting his eyes alight with feverish desperation.

"Guys, come look at this. Somebody managed to hack into our monitors. Whoever he is, he's requesting to speak to the both of you on behalf of some.. shadowy organization." Mercury managed to say over his heavy breathing.

Torchwick and Cinder looked at each other before racing into the main planning room.

They got there just in time. Looking up at them was a.. human figure that wore white glasses and looked almost shadow-like. Everything was monotone. There was scribbled text up on the screen. Weirdly edited music was playing.

 **HELLO** , it said. The figure waved accordingly.

Then the video cut to a faceless man in a suit.

 **I SEND THIS TRANSMISSION WITH THE REGARDS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR**

This figure, this.. Administrator, tilted its neck in a very inhuman manner.

The video cut to the shadow man again.

 **I AM THE OBSERVER**

 **I SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE COLLECTIVE**

The Observer tapped his glasses.

 **WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOUR EXPLOITS HERE WITH QUITE SOME FASCINATION, MISS FALL**

It cut to footage of the Dust Heist they had pulled off a few days back.

Then it cut to video of a familiar girl - the one that had beaten Torchwick.

 **BEATEN BY A LITTLE GIRL? SHAME**

Again, the Observer was there, now wearing a white grin.

 **WE CAN HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR PLANS, MISS FALL**

It cut to footage of Cinder's employer, Salem, shaking hands with this Observer.

 **AFTER ALL, WE HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH YOUR.. MUTUAL FRIEND, SO TO SPEAK**

The Observer nodded.

 **SHE IS TRULY AN ADMIRABLE WOMAN WHO WOULD SERVE US WELL IN THE COLLECTIVE**

 **BE PROUD YOU WORK FOR SUCH A STRONG AND FIERCE CREATURE**

Then it went back to the Observer, who held his hand up, signifying one of something.

 **WE WILL HELP YOU ON ONE CONDITION**

It cut to an unfamiliar man, sleeping in his bed.

 **BRING US OUR MISSING PIECE**

 **NOAH MAXWELL**

 **WE DESIRE HIM FOR OUR OWN PURPOSES**

It cut to Beacon Academy.

 **YOU WILL FIND HIM AT THE SAME ACADEMY AS THE SILVER EYED GIRL**

 **BRING HIM TO ME BEFORE THE MONTH'S END**

The final thing the video displayed was the Observer's grin before the video cut out, leaving everyone in the room stunned. Who was the Collective? What did they have planned for Remnant?

And most importantly…

were they to be trusted?

* * *

 **Author's Note: That motherfucking Collective is back..**

 **Also, a review a chapter keeps the procrastination away!**


	20. Pillow Talk!

**Author's Note: Google Translate will be your friend this chapter.**

"Hey guys, could you just.. put me in the closet for tonight? Just lock it up and don't let me out until morning?" Michael asked.

The other's reactions were.. violent, to say the least. "Fuck no!" Noah shouted.

"Why the hell do you want us to do that?" Caught queried.

"Michael, come on. Nobody here would ever want to do that to you. It's not about our safety, it's about yours, and we don't want you suffering." Tim consoled.

Michael's face grew sad. "I tried to protect you. He's going to get out tonight. He wants to do.. horrible things to you guys. I tried," was all he managed to choke out. "I tried."

In the end, the others refused to lock Michael in. So against their wishes, he did it anyway.

* * *

Immediately, Patrick came to the forefront.

The first victim he went after was Caught.

"Open the door, Caught. Please." Patrick asked in Michael's sad voice.

"I'm fuckin' tired as shit, get Tim to do it for you." Caught grumbled.

"Tim? You wanna open the door?" Caught snarked. "Nah, I'm good, got a nice book here, maybe Noah will." Tim replied.

Noah's response was snoring. Evan was play-fighting with him and had 'accidentally' fallen asleep on his chest. The two were snoring in unison.

Patrick saw it through the crack in the door. Now he was pissed. "Open the door." he ordered.

He began to pound on the door and a shoe was thrown at the door by Caught. "SHUT THE FUCK UP, PATRICK." Caught yelled.

Evan's eyes opened briefly. "Don't make me duct tape your mouth, Patrick." he warned.

He immediately regretted it, because Patrick's response was "I'd be more than happy to oblige, Evan dear."

This continued. Various phrases from Patrick said to Evan that night: "I wish I knew how to quit you," (Evan's reply: "Fuck off.") "Evan, why don't you hold _me_ like that?" ("Because you'd probably stab me, you creep.") "Sooo.. I'm not saying threesome but threesome?" ("God, no. I am not having a demon threesome tonight.") and even "Let me kiss you and I won't stab you that badly." ("Hell no.")

* * *

Eventually, these turned to insults pointed towards the still-awake Noah. Two were in fluent French: "Fous le camps et morte, Noah!" and "Vous avez plein de merde."

Noah remembered a decent amount of French from college. So he began to reply. "Va te faire foutre, vous enculé!" he shouted at the door.

"Me faut retourner à la pute qui m'a accouchée, morceau de merde!" was what Patrick yelled back.

And then the exchanges grew even longer.

"D'accord, tu veut aller comme ca eh? T'es trops stupid pour meme comprendre ce que je dit!" Patrick shouted. "T'es nul." Noah spat.

"Sais-tu combien de temps ta mère prend pour chier? Neuf mois!" Patrick parried.

"Ta mere suce le penis d'animaux pour l'argent." Noah deadpanned.

Caught awoke to a flurry of French fuck-yous shouted from across the room.

He was half-awake, half-asleep, and when he spoke it was a different Caught at the forefront.

 **"Σκάσε!"** he roared, in fluent Greek.

It was loud enough to shut the other two up. Things got really quiet after that.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Rule of thumb is that any chapter title with an exclamation point at the end is usually a shenanigans chapter. There will only be one exception to this throughout the fic.**

 **Also, REVIEWS! THEY KEEP ME GOING!**


	21. Oh, God, The Fanfiction!

It was around the fourth month they had spent at Beacon that Team CTNE seemed to realize the sheer amount of fans they had garnered.

The revelation was definitely.. odd to them, to say the least. They had gone from social pariahs, whispered about and generally regarded with fear, to complete darlings of the school.

Out of all of them, Noah got asked out the most. His reaction was summed up in his reply: "Why the hell would you even like me, honestly. I haven't shaved in months, my hair can basically be described as a miniature Jewfro, and I am capable of setting fire to everything within a 50-mile radius. Quite frankly, why the hell would you even come near me?"

One of the weirdest things about this was that these fans had gathered into coalitions that now seemed to center around certain members of Team CTNE.

Evan had the largest of these fan-groups, led by Patrick Andersen. (He had begun to come out and cause minor annoyances for the members of Team CTNE. This was but one of the many mind games he was playing with the students of Beacon.)

And then somehow, it seemed to get even weirder the day when Evan found out the depths of the contraband smut fanfiction ring.

Then class began to settle. Evan fumbled around in Noah's backpack for the notes they would copy down so they would at least _look_ like they were working.

Alas, his hand grabbed something it wish it didn't. Evan pulled out what he thought were the notes.

His eyes flickered down at the paper, then flicked back when he saw the words "Noah bit into Evan's neck with frenzied lust to claim his prize." printed on the page.

Evan picked it up. "Fucking 'ell, this is some **saucy** shit," he whispered in awe as he read the extremely lurid and erotic smut.

Noah looked at Evan with questions in his eyes. "Why the fuck are you reading that? You know our notes are really just expletives and the word 'bored' written a thousand times over," Noah snarked.

Evan silently passed the fanfiction to Noah.

After 15 minutes of reading it over, Noah turned to Evan and mouthed the predictable 'what the fuck did I just read'.

Evan's face split into a wry grin. "And I suppose you think that just accidentally, uh, **fell into your backpack,** ehm, yeah?" Evan jested.

Noah blushed bright red like a tomato and did not deny a single thing about the whole situation.

Caught was scanning the pages of this lewd monstrosity of a fic and giggling. "Oh my _god,_ this is so badly written it's absolute **gold**. I have no idea what's funnier about it, that they _insist_ firmly for some reason that Evan's dick is smaller than an inch or that they honestly believe that Noah's secretly a thousand-year vampire come to Beacon to gather a demonic harem in the night," Caught whispered, still giggling.

Noah leaned over. "I'm **what?** " he deadpanned.

Caught's smile was wide. "You're a vampire, Noah." Caught imitated.

"And we are apparently your polyamorous demon harem." he added.

"Where's the lie?" Tim snarked.

They collapsed into piles of laughter in the middle of Port's lecture.

Predictably, they were sent out of class for 'causing a disruption'.

That night, Noah woke up and found Evan spooning next to him. "You like that shit, eh? You want more?" Evan whispered mockingly into his ear.

"What the fuck. Get back into your bed, Ev'. I don't have time for this shit now." Noah deadpanned.

Evan reluctantly got out of bed and stormed back to his bunk.

"This isn't over," he whisper-shouted at Noah as he climbed up the ladder.

"We need to get a copy of some of these fanfictions, just to test for accuracy and out of a sense of poisoned rationality. **Who here** is good with disguises?" Evan announced to the group.

The entire group turned to Noah. "OH COME THE FUCK ON! EVERY GODDAMN TIME!" he roared.

"You can turn into a scary god demon. That's generally a good disguise, last time I checked." Caught remarked.

Noah sighed. This _always_ happened.

 **Author's Notes: Reviews keep me from falling to the lure of Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright! Honestly!**


	22. The Tournament Approaches

"Caught. We have been viciously debating which team we should pick to represent Beacon in the rapidly approaching Tournament: Team RWBY and your team. So.. we decided to settle this in the old way. Enter the arena, Caught, along with your team." Ozpin whispered. There was a mob of people waiting for this very fight to begin.

This fight was shaping up to be something to witness. Team RWBY and Team CTNE had a fierce rivalry, something rarely seen in Beacon. Ozpin had encouraged it - after all, competition was a good motivator. Team CTNE had been training ferociously with their weapons and were rushing with adrenaline.

There were bets on who was going to win. Oobleck and Port were going to be commentating this match. There were even livestreams set up to watch this very match.

This was going to be something to remember.

"This match is interesting enough that even we have picked what team we favor to win the honor of fighting in the coming Vytal Tournament. Port, would you state your favored team?" Oobleck announced.

Port's smirk was visible under his giant, white moustache.

"I prefer Team RWBY. More experienced, more precise, better teamwork.. It's truly a no-brainer who will win this fight, Barty," Port replied.

Oobleck pushed his glasses up.

"That may be so. But in my eyes, Team Citrine has proven themselves worthy of the nomination. The sheer power of their Semblances is terrifying to behold. Those boys are so close to each other that in the field, their movements are synchronized and instinctual. They fight each match as if their very lives were on the line. They seem to bear the emotional scars every Hunter possesses after years of fighting Grimm. This, however, only serves to make them stronger and more resilient in combat.

They are, in my eyes, the **perfect** team to compete in the Tournament. Even Ozpin says that he has never seen a more perfectly matched team in all the years he has spent training Hunters and Huntresses," Oobleck explained.

Port's eyebrows were raised. "Interesting perspective.. The match is just about to start. We bring you the coverage live from the Beacon Arena," Port declared.

Team CTNE and Team RWBY stood at the far left and far right sides of the arena, respectively. "WE ARE GONNA KICK YOUR ASSES!" Noah yelled at Team RWBY.

"WE CAN KNOCK YOU DOWN WITH EASE, YOU SCRUFFY RUFFIANS!" Weiss shouted back.

Three beeps sounded. Then Ozpin's voice: " **Begin."**

The fight began. Team CTNE lunged forward into the melee.

Caught was up against Ruby. He was handling himself quite well, all matters concerned. Ruby was darting from left to right, a red blur striking from thin air. His weapon, Amnesiac, was currently in its Halberd form.

"Get a taste of this, frickin' Little Red Riding Hood!" Caught exclaimed. He swung Amnesiac with such speed he generated a whirlwind that sent Ruby flying.

Caught smiled.

With the push of a hidden lever, his weapon began to change. It shifted, clockwork ticking, remarkably fast.

When Ruby was finally visible to the human eye again, Amnesiac had become a crossbow. He put up a blue force field and in an instant popped it.

He went soaring into the air, a Glyph swirling around him. He was laughing all the while. Ruby and him were at eye level now. He set and with precise aim, he fired a golden lightning bolt at Ruby. "I'M THOR, MOTHERFUCKER!" Caught thundered.

The lightning bolt hit true. The two fell to the ground.

The battle got more brutal when Ruby tore at Caught. Caught managed to dodge. He put up another force field surrounding him. "You're gonna like this, Little Red Riding Hood," Caught remarked.

He flicked his wrist and suddenly the force field seemed to turn in upon itself. It was now a dark, dark ebony. The audience was holding their breath. Everything was silent.

Then there was mocking laughter.

When the forcefield went down, Caught stood there with one of his Puppets. "You know what to do, Malicious." Caught commanded.

" _This is Caught's Hidden Ability, the Amnesiac's Puppet! He can summon clones of himself from an unknown void to fight for him as long as he needs! What an amazing strategy!_ " Oobleck revealed.

The Malicious Puppet smiled as it lunged at Ruby with an obsidian dagger, cackling crazily. Caught attacked from behind.

It took 10 minutes before Ruby's Aura ran out.

The Malicious Puppet stared at Caught expectantly. "Don't look at me, go back to the unholy void-abyss from whence you came!" Caught ordered.

And the Malicious Puppet disappeared.

Caught walked forwards towards the crowd. " **ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"** Caught boomed.

The crowd roared in triumph.

Tim and Weiss were at each other's throats. Tim was summoning Grimm after Grimm to distract Weiss.

Masquerade was in its Whip form. He was currently using it to lower Weiss's Aura, bit by bit.

"How can you summon while I can't?" she bemoaned.

Tim said nothing. He was in full focus. He didn't want to deal with her for much longer.

So he closed his eyes. **As Ironwood instructed,** he thought.

When they opened again, he saw through the Ursa's eyes.

" _Tim's Hidden Ability, the Grimm Reminder! He can see through the eyes of the Grimm he summons!_ "

He took a giant swipe and the match was over.

Noah and Blake were having a **heated** match, so to speak. Fire lit up Noah's hands as he shot fireball after fireball at Blake.

"YOU'RE GONNA CATCH THESE HANDS IN A MINUTE, CAT GIRL!" Noah screamed.

Blake's Dust Shadows were surrounding him. He was screwed in a minute.

He knew what he had to do.

Noah took a deep breath in and let the fire spread across him.

He was surrounded by an inferno. His voice echoed loudly throughout the arena.

" **WATCH ME BURN!"** he roared.

The flames exploded outwards, licking at his clothes. Noahbrand had come again. He had the creepy grin across his face.

" _An very interesting case! Noah's Hidden Ability, Firebrand! He has not only immunity to flame, but also the ability to become stronger than ever before by turning into this form! Enthralling indeed!"_

He swung Firebrand, his sword, at Blake.

Blake was knocked out of the match.

" _Evan's Hidden Ability, Feral Habits! He can break through Semblances and armor to deal stunning blows! And Yang is out!_ _**TEAM CTNE HAS WON THE MATCH! What an amazing battle royale!"**_

* * *

 **Author's Note: Reviews~ they keep me a-going!**

 **Also, check on the last chapter, I added some extra stuff in there that'll be interesting.**


	23. Caught Remembers

Caught and Tim were walking back from dual training - Ozpin and Ironwood had decided that occasionally the two would be taught together, seeing how close they were out of class. The two had grins on their sweaty and tired faces. Tim had taken his shirt off. ( _Wow._ Caught remarked in his head. _He's got abs._ )

This was true: Ironwood's training had built Tim into a lean and muscled creature. "Nice sparring today. I honestly do mean it. I mean, shit, you kicked my ass!" Caught complemented.

Tim's smile grew. "You too, Caught. You put a fight, admit that at the least," Tim replied.

It could have been a mistake considering how hot they were, but Caught's face blushed ever so subtly.

They walked down to their dorm in silence, still glowing inside from the simple pleasure of their conversations. They walked into their dorm and immediately flopped down on their bunks. "D'you remember when we met, Tim?"

"I do."

Caught closed his eyes and began to remember.

* * *

He was walking through the Beacon halls. The bunny girl had ditched him, that he remembered well.

He was supposed to go to the Headmaster's office by himself, but he was lost as shit.

He was so lost inside his head he didn't even notice the guy in front of him.

He fell with zero grace onto the floor. "Shit, man, I'm sorry, didn't see where I was going.." Caught began.

This entire rambling monologue coming from him was cut short when he looked into the eyes of the _very_ nice-looking man he had just run into. _Oh, god, he's good-looking._ The man had warm brown eyes, with some very nice sideburns and some really charming facial hair.. He began to fumble for words, but his normally silver tongue was failing him. _Of all times!_ he berated himself.

"You alright? You don't look too good, get any sleep last night?" the man asked, genuine concern in his tone. _OH NO, HE'S GOOD-LOOKING_ _ **AND**_ _THOUGHTFUL._

And finally, his tongue unfroze. "Could you show me where the Headmaster's office is? I need to go there." Caught asked.

The man extended a hand. "I'm Tim. Tim Wright."

Caught took Tim's hand. "Call me Caught. Only name I know, at this point."

As they walked to the office, Tim looked at Caught. "So you have the problems with the Faceless Man too?" Tim queried.

Caught's eyes widened. He nodded. "Yeah. Wait, how did you.. know that?.." Caught replied out of impulse.

"Headmaster Ozpin told me. Apparently there's a few of us that came here, you and I included, that he intends to gather into a team of fighters." Tim explained.

Caught nodded as they walked into the office.

* * *

Tim went back through one of the many fond memories he had gathered in the past months about Caught..

It was the first week they were sleeping together.

Caught had left the room.

Noah was shaking his head. "Caught's a fuckin' dick, honestly. Takes things too seriously. And sometimes he's too highstrung. He's **that guy.** The one guy you honestly don't want leading you," Noah spat, his voice cynical.

"Hey, lay off him. I think he's doing a really good job leading. You also have to remember - he's just as fucked up as we are, if not worse. It makes sense he won't know how to lead, because he's never led others before. So maybe you should probably keep your mouth shut about things you don't understand and take that the fuck back?" Tim defended.

Noah's eyebrows shot up. "Shit, man, I'm sorry." Noah apologized.

Tim didn't know what had washed over him. Why had he defended a man (who admittedly was very kind to him and witty as shit) he had just met a few days ago so ardently?

* * *

They all stood in Ozpin's office now, as they had so many other times before.

"Gentlemen, for now, we have decided you worthy of your first mission as a full team," Ozpin declared.

"You will be taking a simple trip to Vacuo."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Reviews, reviews, they make me happy and are apt to result in more updates! Also, that new Tribetwelve update** **fucked me up.** **You can bet Noah's paper-eating addiction will be getting addressed this arc, along with the Crawlspace.**


	24. A Simple Trip Into Vacuo

"We're going where." Caught deadpanned. Ozpin's smile was ever-so-serene.

"Vacuo. You will rendezvous with another team and bring them back with you to Beacon for the Tournament. Their team name is Team Advantage, or Team AVNJ, and they come from Shade. You are allowed to bring Michael along, AVNJ is bringing along a guest as well. Get packed, you leave now." Ozpin explained.

"What happens if we object?" Evan asked.

Ozpin quirked an eyebrow. "It's your first full mission as a team. Something tells me you won't turn this one down so easily, Mr. Jennings." Ozpin remarked.

After packing everything needed and throwing Nimby into a baby sling, Team CTNE set off on their first quest.

 _One day later…_

They stood in the desert metropolis of Vacuo. These were ancient buildings, tall pagoda-like structures. The smell of spices and incense hung in the air. There were ornate silks and towers gilded with gemstones.

It was, in a word, exotic.

But this was not where the two teams would rendezvous, oh no.

According to Ozpin, they had to meet in the dunes of the Inshallah Desert.

The first problem immediately made itself evident.

They stood at the entrance of the city, on the sandstone roads. They wore headscarves and the native garb. "We have a giant tent but no caravan. I'm thinking - not sure about it - that we **miiiiight** have to do something about that." Noah snarked.

"We also don't have much food." he added. "That's because you only brought food for yourself and Nimby-" "Shut the fuck up, Caught."

So they began to walk down the winding road leading out of the city, into the fierce deserts of Inshallah.

It took 15 minutes of walking before they stopped.

They watched as a massive wooden caravan went by them. They glanced at each other with pragmatic looks.

There was silence.

Then Evan lunged.

It was **anarchy.**

As it turned out, this caravan belonged to one of the native Warboy tribes of the desert. By the looks of the insignia, it was owned by the Desert Spears.

And Team Citrine had just stolen their caravan. The permanently-borrowed caravan soared across the sandstone brick road as Team Citrine beat a hasty retreat.

Tim was at the front with Masquerade, cracking it in the air so that the desert-steeds would go faster. " **WE GOTTA GO! TIM, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAKE THOSE FUCKING HORSES RUN FOR THEIR LIVES! THESE BANDITS WANT OUR HEADS ON SPEARS!"** Caught barked from the roof of the immense caravan. He was firing off golden lightning bolt after lightning bolt.

Noah was smiling next to him. "You wanna try it out? Now's as good a time as any!" he shouted excitedly.

Caught nodded.

Noah touched the set lightning bolt and it sparked blue. When Caught fired, it had a flaming blue trail. As if locked onto the targets, it hit Warboy after pursuing Warboy until it fizzled out.

Evan was smiling crazily. "WITNESS ME!" he bellowed, jumping from Warboy to Warboy and slashing the air with his Merciless Claws.

Noah was now sitting next to Tim. "This is Evan's moment. Almost feels like he's prepared for this, don't you think?" Noah remarked to Tim.

Tim's only reply was a nod as the caravan went onwards.

* * *

That night, they set up camp. Their tent was massive on the inside.

Evan and Noah were outside. "Hey. Hey. Tim, Caught, get outside. I wanna show you somethin'. Noah. We're gonna do the thing." Evan rambled.

With a sigh, Noah removed his baggy tunic and headscarf. He closed his eyes and suddenly he was aflame. Within a moment, Noahbrand stood in his place. He laid down on the sand. Again, Evan was smiling.

He dropped a steak on Noahbrand and it sizzled.

It took a moment for Caught and Tim to lose their shit. But when they did, they were outright belly-laughing.

They sang rock-and-roll songs until they fell asleep.

Caught looked out onto the ebony dunes. Why did Team AVNJ seem so familiar to him?

He thought of meeting them and felt hope spark somewhere deep in his mind.

No rest for the wicked, he supposed.

* * *

 **Author's Note: There will be one or two chapters a week. That I can guarantee. Get hyped, Team AVNJ is coming. Tell me what you think they'll be in the reviews. Always love me some of those. ;)**


	25. Requited

Today was the awaited day. The day they would meet Team AVNJ of Shade had come at last. Team CTNE marched towards the oasis where they would meet. Noah held Beacon's banner with ease upon his glaive.

They stopped at the oasis. "Where's AVNJ?" a familiar voice asked. The others whipped their heads towards the voice and saw Michael Andersen. "I thought you said you didn't want to come.." Noah said. Michael's reply was a shrug. "I came anyways. I put trackers on you a little while back." Michael explained.

Tim stepped forward mutely. "Look." was all he was able to say, pointing to the west.

Walking towards them were faces they had not seen in a very long time, faces they had long given up hope of ever seeing again.

One of the figures in the distance stopped. It took a moment for Evan to realize who it was. His eyes pooled with tears. "VIN!" he yelled, running towards the friend he loved. He stopped and looked at yet another familiar face. "Alex!" he said.

The next figure strode up to Tim.

"Jay.." he whispered. Then he pulled Jay into a tight embrace. "I missed you. So much." he confessed. "I missed you too, Tim." Jay replied quietly.

Caught's feet flew across the dunes. "NATALIEEEE!" Caught screamed. Natalie's face brightened. "CAAAAUGHT!" she boomed in reply, giving Caught a sick high-five.

Noah sat under the shady palms with Michael. "So you didn't get your happy ending, either." Noah remarked to Michael. Michael nodded. Shaun was an ass sometimes, but in the end they were brothers, and Michael **did** love him as a brother should.

Vinnie smiled at Evan. "We also brought one **other** person.." Vinnie revealed, a little sheepishly. Evan looked back up at the dunes.

Standing upon the dune's zenith, with the black and orange banner of Shade in hand, was Jeff. The desert sun glowed behind him, giving his features a divine luminescence. Evan barreled towards Jeff and nearly jumped into his arms. Jeff's smile was almost zen-like.

"It wasn't your fault, Evan. Don't worry." Jeff breathed to Evan.

Vinnie strode to Noah and hugged him. "Sorry you didn't get Milo back. I know you wanted to see him again." Vin apologized.

Noah shrugged.

Noah awoke that night to a whisper. ' _noah. come outside._ '

It sounded so familiar… so he wandered, slowly, to the front of the tent and out into the wild desert.

Ebony sands swirled around him. The sky was truly a celestial galaxy. He ignored all of these signs that this was not where they set up tent.

For standing in front of him was Milo Asher. ' _firebrand brought me some time. only have tonight to talk. i'll say what i need to.'_

' _i brought you to this desert place to tell you this: my death was never your fault. don't blame yourself. you're stronger than that.'_

' _the collective is planning an attack. during the tournament. protect who you can.'_

' _and finally: you don't need to worry about me anymore. i'll watch over you always. remember that, dearest cousin of mine.'_

And Noah Maxwell, after all this time, broke down into tears of joy. Milo enfolded him in a warm hug as he cried over all the things that had been changed.

For once, for once, everyone was ok.

But this was not the end, I am sorry to say. We still have much to see of them yet.

Theirs is a tale forged in fire and blood.

Remember that.

 **Author's Note: REVIEWS! THEY ARE THE MOTIVATION THAT KEEPS THE WRITING GOING! I HONESTLY UPDATE SOONER THE MORE YOU REVIEW!**

 **On another note, in one chapter we'll be halfway through the fic. Currently, we're in Noah's arc: Darkness Descending. The next arc will be named The Vampire of Emerald Forest. I'd love to hear your theories on what that name means. ;)**


	26. Vytal Melee

The time was at hand. Hours of training had culminated up to this moment.

Team CTNE was about to compete in the Vytal Festival. It was their time to shine.

Caught gathered them together for a pep talk. "Let me get this straight," he said.

"We're going up against the equivalent of middle schoolers with deadly weapons. If anyone of you fails this team, I'm going to **flip my fucking shit.** This is getting broadcasted on Live. Fucking. TV. If you fail, you do it in front of a crowd of THOUSANDS. So we are going to kick their asses. **Do I make myself clear?** "

The others nodded. The intent was made perfectly clear. Then they heard it, the words they were both dreading and anticipating: "May I announce Team Citrine of Beacon!"

There was a thought shared between the two non-verbally before they strode out into the arena.

The cheers enveloped them. Many had heard of their adventures and were fans.

Evan's smile was taking up his whole face. Noah was smirking and nodding. Tim was looking up at the stands, slight grin. And Caught was simply pleased as hell.

Their opponents were none other than Team AVNJ. Fate had a sense of humor, after all. "Let's see how good you are in battle," Natalie challenged.

" **BEGIN!"**

Instantly, it was chaos. Evan and Noah were synchronized in movements as they leapt into the air and unleashed a chain of combos upon Alex that would make even the most seasoned veteran pale with envy.

The two looked at each other for a brief moment before looking down at the frozen-in-place Alex. "SPECIAL MOVE: PYROTECHNIC RABBIT!" Evan and Noah roared, slashing down at the same time with flaming blades.

Alex soared through the air, hitting the forcefield like a car-crash dummy. " _AND ALEX IS OUT! WONDERFUL TEAMWORK FROM EVAN JENNINGS AND NOAH MAXWELL!"_

* * *

Caught was up against Vinnie, who was surprisingly skilled in battle. Every hit that Caught tried to make was parried by Vinnie's shield, Guardian. "Motherfucker.." Caught muttered under his breath.

As if Vinnie could hear him, suddenly Vinnie began to attack. His weapon changed from a shield to a naginata in an instant. The slashes were a barrage: fast and very deadly. Caught barely had time to block, throwing up a forcefield. Vin's eyes narrowed as his weapon continued to hit the forcefield, over and over again.

Caught could see a welcome sight behind Vinnie, however. Vinnie turned around just in time to receive a harrowing blow from Tim. Vinnie bounced into the forcefield and Caught smiled.

"Special Move: Clockwork Puppet. Surprise, bitch," Caught said just loud enough for Vinnie to hear.

It was a moment of realization before Vinnie was blown backwards by the force of the attack. " _VINCENT CAFFARELLO FALLS TO CAUGHT AND TIM WRIGHT! SPECTACULAR!"_

* * *

It was a moment of celebration before Natalie went on the attack. Noah and Evan were transfixed by her swinging chain kasuri-kamas that seemed to be slowly turning one second, barely visible to the human eye the next.

Noah and Evan attacked her at the sides and yet she was virtually untouchable. "Try and stop me, you jumped up little shits!" she roared.

Noah took a deep breath in and suddenly Noahbrand was back again. His hands were aflame as he caught one of the kasuri-kamas blade down, lava-blood trickling down onto the arena.

" **I just fuckin' did."** he growled, staring her deeply in the eyes. The kasuri-kamas stopped as Evan's Semblance activated and her Aura all but vanished. " _NATALIE FALLS TO NOAH!"_

Jay had already fallen.

" **TEAM CTNE WINS THE MATCH! GIVE IT UP FOR THEM!"**

* * *

Elsewhere…

Cinder stood at a table in front of the Observer. "It is almost ready, what we have planned. Wait a few matches. And then.. then you'll watch Vale **burn, Cinder dear,** " Observer hissed.

* * *

Team CTNE was back at their dorm from their victory feast. All were happy.

Noah awoke late at night, like he usually did. He looked down with blurry eyes and noticed a blood-red light coming from beneath his bunk. "What the.."

He climbed out of bed and looked down at it. Something pushed him from behind and he fell, fell, fell.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Spring break is coming up. Next week I'll be taking a vacation for a bit. So no chapters, sadly enough. Reviews are this fanfiction's lifeblood, remember!**

 **Almost forgot, I'm also co-writing and starring in a horror series. I'll make an official announcement for it soon. ;) Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this fic! It warms my heart to hear that people not only like this but read it on a daily basis!**

 **Truly, thank you and this fic would not exist without you dear readers!**


	27. Crawlspace

Noah's eyes flicked open. Upon observing nothing but crimson, he vaulted upwards. He stood on a dock. He could see red skies above him, red waters flowing, a red expanse below.. A desperately calming tone was roaring through his ears.

He stood there, watching the river flow and ebb, for what seemed like a lifetime. And still the tone went onwards. He took a deep breath in, centering his thoughts.

 _Alone at last._

Then he heard a familiar voice, clear as crystal, right next to him.

" **This is where the Collective meant to take you before you were summoned to Remnant. I intended to as well. Welcome to the Crawlspace, Noah."**

Noah tore his eyes away from the garnet river and turned to his right. There, taking Noah's form, was Firebrand.

" **I have to warn you. Something.. Something bad is going to happen. And I'm not able to stop it. You have to warn the others, fight back against the Collective. They're going to attack Vale, kidnap you and turn you into a monster… Everything I've worked for, that** **we've** **worked for, will fall. Please, if you have to believe me just one time, let this be the one."** Firebrand stated as he looked out onto the scarlet bay, his hands gripping the wooden railing tightly.

Noah looked into those piercing eyes, the features that were his and yet.. not. "Why should I? You're a god-demon. They could just be controlling you for their own purposes." he growled.

Firebrand's face fell. He looked up with a saddened smile. " **That's my curse, isn't it? I'm cursed to always know far too much and yet, as much as I try to end this, it never works."**

" **Your stubbornness, Noah, is my greatest blessing from you. It's also my curse. Just.. just this once, Noah..** **me,** **just this once listen to yourself. I may not be fully myself, now or ever again. But in the end, all I have ever done is for our sake. For our own good. Please."**

Firebrand's black and white stare faintly flickered to the normal brown eyes that he once had.

Noah looked into Firebrand's eyes and saw himself in them.

"I'll hear you out," Noah declared.

Firebrand smiled the imperfect but gladdened grin that Noah had only seen a few times. All Firebrand said in reply was " **Thank you."**

Firebrand's eyes darted to the side. " **Your friends - our friends - are looking for you. I've taken you for a bit longer than I should have. Sorry."**

"Well, how do I get back-" Noah began.

Firebrand pushed Noah off the railing, into the crimson tides. Noah fell and fell again, back into the world of Remnant.

Firebrand looked down at the red oceans. His expression faded into one of dark sociopathy. " **One day he'll understand. He'll understand and thank me."** he remarked, his voice cold and calculating as he walked away.

" **He will."**

* * *

"NOAH!"

Noah woke up. "Where the fuck were you? We couldn't find you no matter where we looked! Did you start working full-time at that gay strip club down the street again? What the fuck?" Evan yelled.

Noah looked. "... How long was I gone?" he asked.

"Three days! Thank god we didn't have any matches at that point, or we've been screwed!" Caught roared.

"Why are we all screaming?" Noah screeched.

"Fuck if I know," Tim deadpanned. "Why were you gone for so long?"

Noah stared bitterly at Tim. "Firebrand took me. Warned me about an attack on Vale."

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Firebrand is a really interesting character to write. You might see more of him to come.**

 **We have passed the halfway point. Now the fun stuff comes. Now the freaky shit starts happening.**

 **WARNING: The next chapter has astounding amounts of badassery and should only be read with cool shades on to withstand the blinding amounts of sheer badass. Get hype. It is in my personal opinion one of, if not the, best chapters in the whole damn fic.**

 **Review away, my friends, review away.**

 **I hope the wait for this and the next chapter is well worth it.**


	28. Severance

Tim shook Noah awake. "Noah. We need to go." was all that Tim said.

"Why?" Noah asked, before seeing the red glow emitting from the dorm window.

Firebrand's warning echoed in his head..

 _ **They're going to attack Vale, kidnap you and turn you into a monster… Everything I've worked for, that**_ _ **we've**_ _**worked for, will fall.**_

Noah's eyes widened in realization. "Fuck." he cursed under his breath. He dragged himself over to the window and saw hell itself.

Tongues of flame licked at the scorched black sky. There was thunder and ash swallowing the sun whole.

The Collective had come for Vale at last.

"Where's the others, Tim? Where the fuck are they?" Noah asked.

Tim stared back, his gaze devoid of all mirth.

"Outside. Grimm are attacking. Get your weapons." he replied tersely.

Tim and Noah ran had met up with Evan and Caught, and Team CTNE was finally striking out as a team at last.

Monstrous versions of Grimm were indeed attacking the city.

But that wasn't what stopped them dead in their tracks.

No, what stopped them was music, distorted music, playing from out of nowhere.

The empty matter in front of them tore itself apart into a portal.

Standing in front of Noah was Firebrand. " **We still have a chance to beat them, Noah. Follow me."**

And Firebrand pulled Noah into the Collective's domain. Caught, Tim and Evan followed.

* * *

They landed in a stark white room. A silhouette of a old man sat in a chair, next to them.

The silhouette looked at Noah and nodded gruffly, gesturing towards a doorway that appeared to have just opened.

Noah realized who the man reminded him of. "... Karl?"

Again, the silhouette nodded.

Team CTNE quickly departed from Persolus's room.

* * *

They walked into a different room this time, with red cuts in the walls.

Mr. Scars stood with his arms open. He hugged Noah quietly.

' _noah. my cousin.. good luck. i can't help you any further than that, they've still got their claws in me.. but still. good luck. and i hope everything turns out alright._ ' he whispered.

"Thank you. And I love you, Milo. So much." Noah said in reply, letting go of the hug.

He could see Mr. Scars smiling as Team CTNE walked out of the room.

* * *

Team CTNE walked into what appeared to be a library. Sitting in a comfortable chair with a journal on his lap was a masked man in a military jacket. "You're Swain.." Noah remarked.

"Meine Gäste! Setzen Sie sich, machen Sie es sich bequem! Sie haben einen langen Kampf vor dir, ja, aber darüber jetzt keine Sorgen." Swain greeted.

"... I'm sorry?" Tim replied.

Swain sighed. "Sit. Make yourself comfortable." he translated in slightly accented English.

Swain nodded and seemed to turn his gaze to Noah. "Herr Maxwell. I met your grandfather, in the war," Swain began.

"Personally, I've been waiting to finally converse with you at last. I've had great fun with your… what was the word for it? Your twin? Firebrand. The talks I've had in this room with your parallel self, Herr Maxwell, are beyond imagining. And I've been curious to see how different you are from him.. Ah! Ich schweife ab!"

"I have a gift for you, Herr Maxwell. A parting gift, so to speak, as it is most likely the first and last time we shall trade words. Think of this as an apology, that Mr. Scars and I could not help you when we were able. Der Großmann stills our tongues and chains us to our graves." Swain finished.

He bowed his head and handed Noah a black journal. Noah stared at it. Then the realization hit home. "Sebastian's journal." Firebrand hissed with glee, speaking through Noah temporarily.

Then Noah came back, staring down at that journal.

Swain tilted his head in interest. "I know the Stubborn's voice when I hear it, and that was his voice. It appears you inherit more from him than you realize." he added.

"Farewell, Herr Maxwell. And good luck to you."

Team CTNE were teleported to the next room.

Swain shook his head. "I should have told Noah of what Firebrand was planning.. Well, it is too late for that now." he sighed to himself.

"Herr Maxwell will have to roll with the punches."

* * *

Firebrand stood smiling in the next room. **"Don't worry, Noah. I have a plan."** he remarked.

Noah stormed up to Firebrand and slapped him across the face.

"You fucking took over my body without my permission, you creepy motherfucker!" Noah roared.

Firebrand's voice darkened as he spoke.

 **"Considering the circumstances, I could be much worse. Right now, you're going to have to trust me, because I'm going to need to do it again in order to kill the Observer."** he growled.

"You're lying."

 **"Have I lied to you before, Noah? Have I ever been anything other than a FUCKING GODSEND FOR YOU? It's not in my interest for me to lie to you. So, if you finally want Observer to stop tormenting us, I would suggest you play along with this."**

Noah sighed.

"See, there it is. 'Your interest.' That's what scares me. Because every time you say that you're doing something for our own good, what I'm starting to hear is 'I'm doing something for my own good that will vaguely benefit you, Noah. Thank me.' And I get the feeling that's going to get somebody I love killed or maimed one day. Because I had to trust myself as a scary god-demon. So if you truly say you want to help, maybe make it so that I actually know what you're doing every time you take me over." Noah ranted.

Firebrand snapped.

He slammed Noah against the wall.

 **"EVERY MOTHERFUCKING TIME, NOAH! I'VE SAID IT, OVER AND OVER AGAIN: I DO THIS FOR YOUR OWN DAMN GOOD. BUT YOU NEVER SEEM TO LISTEN, DO YOU? DO YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL FUCK? FUCK NO, YOU DON'T! YOU SEEM TO BELIEVE I'M OUT TO TRICK YOU JUST LIKE OBSERVER AND THE REST! I'VE SACRIFICED SO MUCH TO GET YOU HERE! I'VE HAD TO STEAL - WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU THINK I GOT THAT MONEY FROM - I'VE HAD TO LIE, I'VE HAD TO MURDER ON HABIT'S COMMAND… AND YOU. YOU MOTHERFUCKING STAND THERE AND SAY YOU'LL RATHER DIE BEFORE TRUSTING ME! SO, FOR MOTHERFUCKING ONCE, SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND FUCKING LISTEN TO ME."**

Everyone fell silent, Noah and his companions included.

"Ok. I'll let you use my body again. Got off on the wrong foot, it appears." Noah whispered, finally giving in.

A smile grew on Firebrand's face again. **"Off you go!"** he said, pushing Noah and his friends to the exit.

* * *

This next room was a basement.

Cursor stood in the middle of the room, holding a gun. "I'm sorry, Noah. I really am."

Noah closed his eyes, breathing in.

"Tim. Please kill her for me. I can't fucking do it." was all Noah said. Tim nodded. With Masquerade in hand and Caught at his side with a forcefield, he marched towards Cursor and simply stabbed her in the gut.

Blood began to stain her white dress as she fell. "Noah.. Noah.. please end me. Please end my suffering." she coughed.

Noah turned away at first. But then he walked towards her, holding his glaive at her throat. She smiled preemptively. "Thank you-"

Noah slit her throat and walked out of the room.

He couldn't stand to look at her any more.

* * *

The next room they walked into was pitch black.

Suddenly attacks started hitting from all sides. The dark itself was fighting them.

Noah lit up his hands and made flames lick the floor.

The flames went up and Noah saw a skull mask in the shadows.

"EVAN! I SEE HIM!" he roared.

Evan struck at the skull masked figure. His dagger glowed red even in the dark.

The shadows receded. Tim had stabbed the figure at the same time.

The figure was on its knees, silent.

Then shadow and static burst forth from it in one last, horrifying death cry.

Noah and his friends ran out of the room.

* * *

Noah walked into the room - a starry void stretching far beyond the boundaries of a room - and saw standing there a familiar figure.

"You motherfucker." Noah hissed.

Standing there was Observer. "Noah, you've kept me waiting for FAR too long. It's time for a match, wouldn't you say?" he hissed.

Noah charged at Observer, flame pouring off his weapon as he leapt at Observer.

Observer smiled, pulling a void-black spear from the ethereal abyss and slashing at Noah.

The two were locked in a dance of blades, a sight to witness. The others could sense that this was Noah's fight, a fight for his pride and courage.

Noah's eyes were murderous. He was going to end this, killing Observer once and for all with or without Firebrand's help.

"You're putting up quite a fight, Noah! You really are a delight!" Observer remarked, smiling crazily.

Noah remembered all those he had lost.

Milo. Sarah.

They were not going to die in vain.

So Noah fought with monstrous intensity.

His vision blurred for a minute. But when it came back?

Observer had Evan at bladepoint.

He heard Firebrand in his head: **You've done enough. I'm sorry, Noah. But you'll thank me later.**

And Noah lost control.

He was devoured in a whirling maelstrom of flame.

But frenzied, feral laughter erupted from the flames.

Firebrand walked out, his hair slicked back and his grin deeply disturbing.

He strode up to Observer and kicked him down.

 **"Guess the fuck what, Observer? I'm BACK. And this time? You're going to pay for everything you've done to us. Both me and Noah. I'm going to rip you apart and set your bones aflame."** Firebrand snarled, his grin absolutely sadistic as he loomed over Observer like a vengeful god.

 **"This is what you get. This is your _pyre_."**

And Firebrand began to slash Observer apart with Noah's glaive.

Observer was screaming and screaming and screaming.

But Firebrand was just laughing darkly the whole time.

Then he stopped. The Observer was dead.

He stood over the Observer's corpse, his breathing heavy.

Evan took a step towards him.

"Noah? …"

Firebrand twisted Noah's neck around with a very audible snap and a murderous grin.

 **"Not Noah."**

He strode up to Evan, putting a hand to Evan's face. **"So you're Evan.. Noah's taken quite a fancy to you, you know."**

Evan recoiled a little. Firebrand was still his friend and wife, just a little more… monstrous, right?

 **"Do you want to know how I know? Because I feel mostly everything Noah feels except fear. But amplified. He gets angry, I become consumed by unholy amounts of rage. He's happy, I explode with mania. You get the gist."**

 **"So when I say he's taken a fancy to you, you can only guess what that means."** Firebrand purred with a grin.

He'd backed Evan into a wall at this point, and it was not looking good.

But Noah came back just in time.

"Evan? What.. what did I do?" Noah said.

Evan stood, frozen in fear.

They left the room afterwards.

* * *

They stepped into a starry void even bigger than the last.

Standing, far at the horizon, was a familiar figure to them all.

It teleported to right in front of them, raising tentacles in anger.

The Slender Man.

Caught nodded at his companions. They all unsheathed their weapons.

And their battle began.

* * *

They'd exhausted all options. They laid on the ground, bloody and broken.

The HABIT intervened.

He pulled himself up in Evan's body, lifting up a knife.

He strode up to Firebrand, who was barely conscious at this point, and stuck a finger in one of his larger, bloodier gashes.

"BOTH OF YOU. DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT SEVERANCE?" he growled, tracing the symbol on the knife in Firebrand's blood.

Everyone suddenly seemed to receive a rush of energy out from nowhere. Firebrand's eyes widened.

HABIT's smile was infectious. "YOU'RE GONNA WANT TO SEE THIS."

He turned to the Slenderman.

"COME AND GET ME, YOU SKINNY FUCK! TRY ME, BITCH!" he roared at it.

It teleported right in front of him, tentacles waving…

And HABIT did something thought impossible.

Team CTNE's eyes widened in shock.

HABIT had just stabbed the Slender Man.

Black blood splattered all over his face. The Slenderman actually **screamed** , vanishing in a burst of static.

"LET'S JUST SAY, THAT FUCKER'S NOT GONNA BE STALKIN ANYBODY FOR A LONG WHILE." HABIT boasted.

"How.. how the fuck did you do that?" Caught asked.

Something feral gleamed in HABIT's eyes. "I WAS PART OF THE COLLECTIVE ONCE. LEARNED THE FUCKER'S SECRET. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING TO DO THAT." HABIT smirked.

The black void around them faded away. Their energy had returned to them.

Alas, they were surrounded by Cinder and her entourage.

"... **FUCK**."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Again, pure badass.**

 **Reviews bring good chapters such as this. This is the longest chapter in this fanfiction, at 2,270 words.**

 **We're about to watch Rome burn.**

 **:)**


	29. The Thousand Grimm Siege

Our heroes stood broken, surrounded by Cinder Fall and her friends.

"You should be scared of me," Cinder purred. Something in Noah seemed to snap as he stepped forward.

"Guess the fuck what? We're not," Noah began.

"We just faced and slaughtered an entire cabal of creepy fuckin' God-demons. We made our longtime torturer, Daddy Longlegs, into a pile of mush on the ground. We have seen shit that would make you retch out your lunch. We have gotten possessed by freakish and evil entities for months on end. We've seen loved ones die, friends get cut open, love interests set on fire, often by our own hands."

We've seen hell. And when you've seen hell? You tend to not be scared of glowy-eyed skeevy women slinging around threats." he finished, growling out every word.

And it was just at the right time that an old friend of theirs jumped from the shadows, slashing at her back.

"Hello, boys! Lovely to see you all, did you know there's a thousand Grimm attacking the city?" Patrick chirped.

"My knight in red suspenders." Noah deadpanned.

"I love you too, Noah!" was Patrick's reply.

Evan stepped forward. "Fine, I'll let him loose, gimme a minute," he said.

And in an instant his eyes glowed purple. HABIT was back again. "HEY THERE, PATRICK!"

He turned to the boys. "CAN WE LET GO AND TEAR THEM APART?"

Tim and the others nodded.

"Look, we may be 'evil', but we still need a world to live in and people to threaten, y'know?" Patrick remarked.

"Go! We'll hold them back!" he yelled. The rest of Team CTNE ran from the arena.

Slamming the pole end of his executioner's axe into the ground, Patrick looked at HABIT.

"LET'S GIVE 'EM A SHOW, PITTY-PAT." HABIT roared with a grin.

"With pleasure."

* * *

They ran to the edge of the arena and jumped into the air. "Tim! We need to improvise!" Caught roared.

Tim's nod was subtle. His eyes closed, and in an instant Griffons swooped underneath them to catch their fall.

Tim himself rode on a Nevermore, balancing carefully on its back. "There's a Dragon responsible for summoning all of these Grimm at once. We're going to fly to it and I'll control it. Caught, call up Team AVNJ. I know they're still here, and we're going to need all the help we can get." he ranted.

"Did you understand a word he said?" Noah whispered to Caught. "Shh, just nod and smile." Caught replied.

"I heard you."

* * *

They flew near Beacon's once-highest tower. They could see a blur of motion surrounding the Dragon.. "Somebody's fighting it off," Caught said. "Who is it?"

Then the figure jumped in midair, as if to give a massive middle finger to physics, and they could see exactly who it was.

Jeff was fighting off a dragon that was a thousand times bigger than him with a pole.

"Holy fucking shit, that's _Jeff._ " Noah said in amazement.

It appeared Team AVNJ had received just as skill as CTNE, if not more.

Noah's Griffon managed to catch Jeff midair. "Hey, Jeff." Noah greeted, casual in spite of the war that raged around them.

"Hey, Noah. Do you have a plan?"

Noah looked behind him at Jeff. "Watch." was all he said in reply.

Tim landed on the Dragon's head and held on.

His eyes closed. A dark Aura began to spin around him.

The Dragon stilled.

Tim's eyes opened and glowed _amber._

The Dragon tilted its head upward. Tim remained upon its head by some power.

A mighty roar resounded, throughout Vale.

It could be heard in the farthest reaches of Remnant, so loud was the Dragon's roar.

The Grimm howled as one before vanishing in black mist. Tim's eyes turned brown again.  
"Give me a minute, I have to take the Dragon back to it's true home!" he yelled as loud as his lungs were able.

And Tim vanished into the night as well.

"Well, fuck," Caught remarked.

* * *

 **Author's Note: :) Reviews bring good tidings and chapters!**


	30. A Deep Breath

It was snowing outside Beacon Academy. Renovations had come and gone.

After the Thousand Grimm Siege, as it would come to be known, Ozpin summoned Team CTNE and AVNJ into his office. He explained that as of that night, Team AVNJ were now students of Beacon.

This was met with much rejoicing and hugging.

It was winter in Vale, and Team CTNE was cooped up in their dorm with nothing to do.

"Fuck, why'd they have to suspend classes? I'm going crazy in here." Noah remarked.

Currently, it was just him, Caught, and Tim. Evan was off doing god-knows-what (most likely pranking the teachers) and Michael had mysteriously vanished as well.

"According to Ozpin, they're celebrating something like Christmas this month," Tim replied.

Everyone was drowsy and on the verge of sleep when Evan kicked the door open. He and Michael came in with bags of groceries that looked full to bursting.

" **BOYS.** If I have to suffer through one more day of seeing you mope around, I'm gonna lose my shit. So Team AVNJ and I came up with a plan!" Evan boomed.

He pulled out a giant scroll of paper as if from nowhere and spread it out on the ground. There were drawings and commentary scribbled all over it in crayon. At the top, this was written:

 **Natalie, Vince, Jeff, and Evan's Super Lit Chaunukkahmas Master Plan Of Extreme Badassery And Revelry Involving Alcohol**

Caught was staring at it with his jaw wide open.  
"In the name of the ancient Chinese sage, Ho Lee Shit," Caught deadpanned.

"And you plan for all this to happen next Saturday?"

Evan nodded eagerly with a silly grin on his face.

* * *

And so work began immediately on making **Evan's Super Lit Chaunukkahmas Master Plan** a reality. Noah's project was making the menorah and finding the perfect Christmas tree.

This turned out to be a much harder task than expected. "Too thin," Evan would say, or "Too fat." Somehow, Evan's demands for the Perfect Tree were spread out over two days. It was only on the third that they found the tree Evan declared "the bestest goddamn tree you could have gotten, Noah."

As soon as they hauled the tree in, decorating began. This task was one assigned to Jeff and Tim, who did quite a good job of it. Everyone created ornaments for it, even Nimby (whose tiny kitten pawprints they stamped in plaster for an ornament.)

Noah's very small menorah was set on the windowsill for one member of Citrine or Advantage to light per day. The tree loomed over it all with a tiny statue of Baphomet resting on the very top.

The cooking was left to Vin and Evan, and they took to the task with relish. Delicious smells wafted out of the communal kitchen.

On the seventh day, they rested and looked at their creation in shock.

All of Team CTNE and Team AVNJ (even Jeff and Michael) gathered in Citrine's dorm to celebrate **The Super Lit Chaunukkahmas.**

* * *

"Alright, let's all take turns for gift-opening. Leaders start first." Caught reassured.

Jeff passed his brother a suspiciously large box. Alex tore the lid off and a tiny Shiba Inu puppy jumped out. The dog's collar said only one word: Sparky. Sparky jumped out of his box and padded up to Nimby (who curled up next to him.)

Jeff turned to his brother. "Now, I know it isn't really-" Jeff began before being interrupted by a tight hug. "Thank you." was all Alex said in reply, still squeezing his brother tightly.

Natalie gave Caught a letter. He opened it gingerly and a photo fell out. Caught picked it up and his eyes threatened to pool with tears. The picture was of him as a little child. Underneath was the name he had never known.

Steve. His face cracked into a grin. "Out of all the names I think I was expecting, it definitely wasn't that. Thank you, Natalie," Caught began.

"but I think Caught sounds better. So I guess I'm staying Caught for the undetermined future?"

What they received for presents was these (excepting the new cameras they all got):

Noah received an electric guitar, a journal, and some brandy. Tim received an dracopipe (Vale's version of the cigarette without the nicotine), some money and a ukelele. Evan received knives, an hoverboard, and an wickedly long katana.

And as for Team AVNJ?

Alex received a puppy, a copy of House of Leaves, and a soft blanket. Vinnie received a heartfelt letter from Evan and Jeff, an apron, and two enormous cookbooks that threatened to break somebody's arms. Natalie received several books, a record player, and an actual hug from Caught. Jeff received a bottle of BBQ sauce, a pair of golden spandex shorts, and a computer.

Even Michael received presents! (A pocketwatch, a top hat, and an amazingly intricate piece of armor, respectively.)

Then it was time for dinner.

* * *

They read the contraband fanfiction Noahbrand had recovered out loud at the dinner table.

In breathy, vaguely erotic noises.

Even Michael joined in, doing his best Patrick impression for the others.

Evan laughed so hard he fell out of his chair crying.

Noah, when reading the Vampire Harem fic, even pulled out a pair of fake fangs he had gotten from somewhere that his team-mates didn't want to know.

They felt at home together. At last, they felt like a patchwork family.

* * *

As the festivities wound down and they went outside to play in the snow, Tim looked out into the snowy forest.

He could see glowing red eyes in the dark of the woods.

And he got the sense that someone was watching him.

* * *

 **Author's Note: The holiday chapter you never knew you wanted.**

 **Noah's arc is ended, and now Tim's arc begins. The Vampire of Emerald Forest. :)**

 **I'd love to hear your guesses on what that means.. Reviews, reviews!**


	31. Then A Monster You Shall Become

Alex Kralie was dying. From a neck wound.

His brain was dying and his mind went to one thought, from long back when he was still _normal_ and the infection hadn't taken him.

He remembered it as clearly as if it was yesterday, and suddenly all his thoughts went to that one moment of humiliation.

* * *

He often stalked Tim. He stalked all of his cast members, but Tim especially.

He didn't know what was wrong with himself then.

It was a Saturday night, after filming had wrapped for the day on Marble Hornets.

Alex was listening in on Brian and Tim's conversation. He knew they were talking about him, he could hear it in their sarcastic and acrid tones.

And what he heard displeased him, greatly.

"Man, Kralie is harsh, isn't he?" Brian remarked, offhandedly.

"Of course he is. He wants to have control over everybody all of the time. He seems like the kind of guy that could do some really creepy shit in order to keep himself in control. " Tim replied ever-so-casually.

Alex had to acknowledge that Tim was correct on this matter. He wanted power, control, and he wanted to keep it in his grasp for as long as he wanted.

"He's so strict! I really do try and be polite to him, though. He is the guy paying us, after all," Brian exclaimed.

Tim turned to Brian and smiled.

"He really is, though. It feels like he always wants to suck the life out of us. Actually, to be honest, sometimes I expect him to tear my throat out and drink my blood. He's a goddamned vampire!" Tim added.

Brian and Tim shared a laugh over that line.

"Oh my god, he **is,** though! He's always unhealthily pale, it's like he hasn't gone outside in ten thousand years. And have you ever seen him eat? No. So there it is, we cracked the code: Alex Kralie is a vampire." Brian said jokingly.

Alex Kralie was livid at this point. He had heard enough. So he strode away, into the night.

* * *

He was dead now, floating in the infidesmal void. Then he could hear something. A voice.

 _I can give you what you seek._

 _You wish to have it all. Power. Lust. Tim Wright. You wish for many things, Alexander Kralie._

 _And it will be given to you, if you can take it._

 _You think yourself a monster, Kralie?_

 _A_ _ **vampire?**_

 _Very well._

 _Then a monster you shall become._

* * *

There was purest darkness enveloping him and then his eyes flicked open. He wasn't in the void anymore, no. He was in a snowy forest now. This was the real world again, a second chance.

He put a finger to his wrist. No pulse but he felt so **alive.** It felt as if he was the king of all he surveyed, that all this was his domain and that no-one alive could stop him.

He didn't need the glasses anymore, he knew that. But he still kept them on. For old time's sake, he assumed.

He strode through the forest with leonine elegance. There was a hunger, clawing at his throat and coursing through his veins.

He intended to see it sated by sunrise.

* * *

He heard her before he saw her. A scream, the scream of an innocent girl. His senses had sharpened and he could smell in the air something wonderful. Oh, whatever it was stirred a feral thing in him and his body went into overdrive.

He tore through the woods, frenzied and manic.

And then he could see her.

A girl with a weapon in her hand, reclining on a tree and bleeding out into the snows.

Something else took control, at that very moment. He could feel his teeth elongate as he stepped towards the girl with fangs bared.

They were actually not that far into the woods.

But nobody heard her screams and Alex's wicked laughter.

But nobody came.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I did say this was a crackfic taken seriously. Therefore, Vampire Alex Kralie is now a thing.**

 **Whoops.**


	32. A Beast Awoken

Tim just felt unwell, thank you very much. He wasn't a monster, he was a human plain and simple. As of late, however, he was beginning to think otherwise.

It was a few days after the holiday he had spent with friends.

Beacon was finishing rebuilding.

Everything, for once, was coming back to as close as it got to 'normal.'

But sadly enough, the words of his masked self were coming back to haunt him.

 _you've always locked away your animal impulses. well, guess what?_ _ **they're coming out now, and nothing can lock them away again.**_

It started quietly. Little changes, things nobody would notice if they weren't paying attention.

He became fiercer in battle, less controlled and more.. in a word, **feral**. Ironwood, oddly enough, not only allowed it but encouraged it. But it was as if some primal instinct took him over, as if his weapon desired blood.

His senses became sharper. If someone were to whisper two rooms over, he would hear it. His night vision was immaculate, enough that even in the pitch black of their dorm he could see Evan moving around.

He became more irritable. Noah and Evan quickly learned to take their pranks elsewhere if they valued not getting their ass kicked.

Caught and Jay, out of them all, were the only ones that could sense Tim's growing concern.

This escalated until a few weeks later.

* * *

They were sleeping in their dorm.

Tim's eyes flicked open, glowing amber. There was an instinct, deep in his head, that reverberated through every vein of his blood.

 _tear noah's throat out. you are a monster, he is prey. your claws are sharp, your fangs are bared. embrace it all, the thrill of the chase._ _ **hunt.**_

Oh, fuck, did he try to fight it. He screamed against it, writhed and spat but his hands were bound. Suddenly the impulses washed over him like a wave. Now he wanted it, wanted it all. That dark desire had its teeth in his throat and he wanted to tear Noah apart.

He found himself stalk down the ladder and land at Noah's bedside. He couldn't stop himself, but he wanted to taste blood **so badly it ached.**

He could hear his own heart pounding in his chest. Noah's breathing was slow, he was asleep, and Tim knew that at this very moment he could rend the flesh from Noah's bones and nobody would know.

The very thought of tasting Noah's flesh made Tim's mouth water. Not one bit of disgust arose at the thought.

In the dark now, he had Noah's fate in his hands. This was power he had and it felt intoxicatingly good.

 _noah is weak. asleep. it would be so easy. to devour his heart. he would never awake again._ _ **kill him. do it, do it, do it-**_

Tim fell to his knees. His throat was choked up. "I can't do it.. **I can't kill you, Noah.** "

His eyes faded to brown as Noah woke up and stepped towards Tim.

"Tim.. Why are you crying? Did you have another nightmare again?" Noah asked, clearly unaware of the fact that he was very nearly Tim's main course for the evening.

* * *

 **Author's Note: You thought I was done, eh? You're wrong! I'm still updating this fic. Been busy, very busy indeed, got a few projects planned. :)**

 **Reviews, reviews, my people! They exist to motivate me!**


	33. Bloodlust

Beacon was on edge lately.

A girl from Team SYRA was found dead in the woods. She was a Beacon student, from Menagerie. Well-liked by many in the school, and who was known to have a crush on Noah.

And they had started to find more Beacon students dead as well.

All killed in the exact same way: desanguination.

The police had determined that this was the work of a serial killer, not a Grimm. Word spread fast and the serial killer was quickly dubbed the Vampire of Emerald Forest.

* * *

"Cardin is **dead?** " Noah exclaimed, his eyes surprised.

"Yeah, I know, right? They're saying he was killed by the Vampire. His death was different, though. They found a note by his dead corpse, written in his own blood. Sounds edgy, but what he wrote on the note is the real kicker: 'The past comes back to haunt us.' That's some creepy shit. I'm not even phased anymore, I've seen scarier stuff in Silent Hill," Caught remarked.

Evan's face grew darker. "It couldn't be HABIT, could it?.." he said, his voice filling with fear.

Noah shook his head. "Nahhhh, he'd taunt us and be real theatrical about it. I'm pretty sure it isn't HABIT."

"But it's still really creepy, isn't it? The past comes back to haunt us.."

Tim looked out at his team. "Cardin was an asshole anyways," he spat. The team nodded and that was the last of it.

* * *

Alex Kralie had given in to the thrill of the hunt.

It was too satisfying to finally run his prey to the ground and torture them ever so slowly. To run with the wind soaring around him and watch his quarry attempt to run from their imminent fate.

It was grand and glorious and feral.

And he loved every single minute of it.

* * *

Tim felt ever so unsteady.

He'd remembered seeing that figure out in the woods during Chaunukkahmas.

A day before the murders started.

Why was it so familiar to him?

He had not a clue why.

* * *

Unbeknownst to her team, Weiss Schnee had snuck out into the forests where the Vampire supposedly prowled.

She didn't believe a word of it. This Vampire didn't exist, and if he did she would put these murders to rest once and for all by killing him.

She stood in the snowy woods. "VAMPIRE! COME OUT IF YOU'RE THERE! I WISH TO FACE YOU IN EQUAL COMBAT!" she roared, her inside voice getting thrown out the window.

There was silence. Wind rushed past her. Then there was a gunshot at her feet. She leapt into combat stance and pulled out her blade, Myrtenaster.

She could hear cold and calculating laughter ringing in her ears. "You perfect little fool…" she could hear the Vampire hiss into her ear, before biting her in the neck.

She swooned into his arms, her vision fading as he sliced his palm open with Myrtenaster and poured his blood down her throat..

* * *

 **Author's note: Team SYRA is owned by Storygazer, sorry I haven't updated in so long!**

 **June 19th through the 2nd I'll be on a writing sabbatical for 2 weeks!**

 **I won't be able to update during those two weeks, but when I come back the two chapters will be posted and my writing will get a MAAAAAJOR upgrade in quality!**

 **I would recommend re-reading Tim's chapters during the hiatus, plus Chapters 29 and 30! I left some pretty heavy foreshadowing in all of those. ;)**

 **Reviews and updates on the TvTropes page = you loving this fic and wanting more updates! They inspire me to make my pen the pen that pierces the heavens! So do both if you can! Thank you for reading, and know that there will be many more chapters to come! 21 more, as a matter of fact.**

 **I am also considering a spinoff following Team AVNJ.. if I get enough support for the idea know that** **I will do everything in my power to make it a reality!** **So good luck and keep reading, my fans!**


	34. Carnivore

The Vampire of Emerald Forest had taken another victim.

Weiss Schnee. They couldn't find her. She was dead to the world as far as everyone knew.

The atmosphere of Beacon was tense and dark. There wasn't much laughter anymore, there was a preparation for war.

This did not help Tim's sanity in the slightest. Noah was beginning to catch on to the fact that something was going very wrong with Tim.

Tim didn't know this, but Noah was in his half-asleep state that he'd perfected. Noah had seen him looming with Tim's eyes glowing like embers, seen Tim struggle against the urge to murder him.

As you can imagine, concerned was an understatement for how Noah felt right now. He planned to confront Tim about it this very day.

Meanwhile, Tim was locking himself away, coming out only to train with Ironwood. Noah had to do something, and fast.

Tim was walking from the room as Noah grabbed his wrist. He whirled around, ready to attack, and then calmed himself upon realizing that it was Noah.

"Tim. We need to talk."

"Yeah? About what?" Tim questioned.

"You've been acting.. Off lately."

Tim froze. Noah knew, he had to make sure Noah didn't tell, he might have to kill Noah if it came down to it..

 **Do it,** the voice in his head purred. **Kill Noah. Rip him apart, let him choke on his own blood. Dead men don't say shit.**

It was happening again, he was being ensnared in the grip of his impulses. He looked up and his eyes were amber.

It wasn't him, he wanted to scream as he stalked towards Noah, it wasn't him in control.

Noah pulled out a bat from underneath his bunk.

He didn't want to do this..

Tim leapt at him and Noah swung a blow to Tim's head that would have definitely been a home-run.

As Tim slumped to the ground, Noah winced. "Yeesh. That's going to leave a bruise."

* * *

Later that night, Tim awoke to the smell of meat.

He was asleep and his impulses had won out again.

He wandered to the fridge and slammed the door open, his amber eyes flicking to the raw steak.

Before he knew, he had grabbed it and torn it apart, blood painting his mouth like lipstick.

He awoke and looked down at the carnage, tears starting to well up as he stepped away from the counter and began to sob.

Noah wandered towards Tim, towards the brutal scene. "Tim, what.. What happened?" Noah inquired.

Tim said nothing.

Weiss pulled herself to the entrance of Beacon, bloody and fading fast. She pounded at the door, roaring to be let in before she collapsed on the doorstep, her light dimming. Her last words before falling were "I'VE SEEN THE VAMPIRE! SEEN HIS FACE!" Her fate was unclear.

* * *

 **Author's note: I'm back.**

 **New updates this week. Get ready. Because shit's about to go DOWN.**


	35. Poisonous Reverie

Weiss's eyes flicked open. She could only see white.

She vaulted up to see her friends around her, and Ozpin.

"You're awake!" Yang exclaimed, her face lighting up.

"Lay down please, Miss Schnee. You were found badly wounded on Beacon's steps. Your throat was nearly torn out," Ozpin remarked.

"Um, Headmaster.. I've seen the Vampire," Weiss said, her head bowed.

The eyes of her teammates widened. There were a thousand questions launched in her direction that died as soon as Ozpin held up his hand.

"We found one other thing."

Ozpin snapped his fingers and pulled up a hologram. The first image, very faint, was a picture of Weiss's parents.

"We ran tests. Your blood doesn't run Schnee anymore. Your Semblance has vanished, replaced by a new one."

The second picture that flashed up on screen was a man looking to be in his twenties.

Alex Kralie, the Vampire of Emerald Forest.

Weiss said nothing, her eyes welling with tears. She remembered how that very monster had torn her neck open and fed her his blood. "He's.. he's the Vampire."

* * *

Alex Kralie stalked the woods, lost in a flight of fancy. He'd found Tim Wright.

Looks like Tim had found friends, friends that were just as infected as him.

He wanted to slaughter all of those so-called friends, one by one, watch Tim break. And then, at last, the sick could stay together.

The thought gave him such lust and joy both. A fanged smirk split his face in two as he began to laugh - he was lost in it, lost in the delirium of crazed laughter.

But this Caught - ohhh, he'd make sure that Caught was saved for last, that Caught would die right in front of Tim.

Now that would break him. It only made him laugh even more.

Tim Wright, as Caught and the other 'friends' would soon learn, was his and his alone.

* * *

Meanwhile, Noah had convened a meeting in the dorm.

Tim explained it all - the murder urges, the bestial impulses that were slowly taking him over.

Noah and Evan nodded. "We can relate," they said in unison.

Caught put a hand on Tim's shoulder. Tim seemed to be calmed by this action."We'll help you through this, all of us. We're always here to talk if it gets worse, fuck, we'll even have _more_ cookouts if it gets to the tipping point," Caught reassured.

Tim smiled genuinely, for the first time in a long while. "Thank you. I'm glad that I have such good friends."

"Awwwww, fuck, now we have to do a group hug!" Noah exclaimed, pulling all of his friends into the group hug they'd been waiting for.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Reviews encourage me to write! This is gonna go off the rails soon, my friends, strap in. It's gonna be a ride.**


	36. Your Darkest Nightmare

Those dreams were fierce and horrible. Tim often woke up screaming or roaring.

Tonight was worse. He woke up in a cold sweat, the image of Alex Kralie still fresh in his mind. He almost screamed were it not for Michael rushing over to calm him.

"It's alright, Tim, it's ok. Alex Kralie can't hurt you anymore," Michael reassured. "He's dead." Tim's shoulders finally relaxed with obvious relief as he took a few deep breaths. "How did you know I had a nightmare about Alex?" he asked Michael.

Michael sighed. "How do you know what Evan or Noah are having nightmares about before they tell you? It's intuition," Michael replied. "Was this time different, Tim?" "Yeah. It was mostly the same. Caught got dragged into the forest, Alex was going to kill him.. And this time he succeeded."

The two boys fell silent.

"It's gonna be alright, Tim."

Tim went back to sleep, dreaming again of Caught and Rosswood Park.

* * *

Patrick stalked through Emerald Forest, snow crunching under his feet. "Lexy-boy," he crooned. "Where are you, little Kralie?"

"Right here." Alex sighed. His tone was sharp and terse - it was clear he didn't want to speak to Patrick a second longer than he had to. "There you are, Sparkles-" "Don't. Call. Me. That." "Fine. Jeez.. You're the one that's been sending nightmares to Wright?" Patrick asked.

Alex nodded.

"You know. Michael's been having these dreams of things to come. He's got future sight as a Semblance. Really interesting stuff.. He saw wolves for Tim. Shards of glass. Stuff relating to our favorite Citrine boys," Patrick began.

"But here's the interesting thing. He saw past the Citrine boys. He saw the ones to come - the boys that will come after Citrine. Blue eyes. A scimitar. Feathered wings. And a silver revolver."

"Shut up, Patrick. We have an agreement still?" Alex snapped. "Yes, Kralie, we do. You get Tim, I get Evan and Noah." "That was all I needed to know."

Alex vanished, leaving Patrick behind with his thoughts.  
Patrick chuckled, the air heavy and cold.

"Poor fool Kralie didn't even know he's going to be meeting his maker soon."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Short chapter, but we're gonna be back to business this year. Sorry for not updating - real life intervened to b*tchslap me.**

 **First off, the events of RWBY's Season 4 will have no bearing on any of this AU's events. Second, anybody who manages to guess who Patrick is talking about for the "ones to come" - and subsequently what/who the sequel of Noah Maxwell Takes A Little Trip To Beacon will be focused on - gets a reward of some kind. He's not talking about anybody from the Slenderverse, although we will see the Future versions of Team CTNE and AVNJ in the sequel of this very story.**


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